The Rockies have signed infielder Nicky Lopez and right-hander John Brebbia to minor league deals, reports Kevin Henry of the Denver Gazette. Both players will receive invites to big league spring training. Lopez is represented by CAA and Brebbia by Icon Sports Management.
Lopez, 31 in March, has largely been a glove-first infielder in his career. He did have a nice .300/.365/.378 showing in 2021 but that seems to have been fuelled by a .347 batting average on balls in play, far higher than any other season he has played. In his career, he has stepped to the plate 2,374 times with just seven home runs. His 14.3% strikeout rate is quite low but his 7.6% walk rate is subpar. Put it all together and he has a .245/.310/.311 line and 73 wRC+, indicating he’s been 27% below league average at the plate.
Despite the lack of punch with the bat, Lopez has been able to carve out big league playing time on the strength of his defense. He has experience at all four infield spots and in left field. Reviews on his shortstop defense are mixed. He’s been credited with -11 Defensive Runs Saved at that spot, although a lot of that comes from a -9 in just 344 2/3 innings with the White Sox in 2024. Outs Above Average, meanwhile, has ranked him as 33 runs better than par at short. Both metrics give him positive reviews at the other positions he’s played.
Lopez got pushed to a fringe roster player in 2025. He got close to everyday playing time from 2019 to 2024 but he only got into 19 games and received 28 plate appearances this year. He had brief stints with the Angels and Cubs early in the year, then was stuck in the minors for the final few months of the season, bouncing to the Diamondbacks, Yankees and Cubs again.
The Rockies have plenty of uncertainty on their roster. They just lost 119 games and are retooling the organization. On the infield, Ezequiel Tovar is locked in at short but the other positions are up for grabs. Tyler Freeman, Kyle Karros, Troy Johnston, Adael Amador, Warming Bernabel, Ryan Ritter and Blaine Crim are all on the roster but Freeman is the only guy in that group with more than 60 games in the big leagues. Freeman can also play the outfield and might end up there, depending on what other moves the Rockies make.
In short, there’s lots of room for a veteran infielder. The Rockies had guys like Orlando Arcia, Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer on the roster in 2025 as veteran utility types but they’re all free agents now. If Lopez eventually cracks the roster, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent as a guy with at least five years of big league service time.
As for Brebbia, he’s a buy-low move for the Rockies. He had a strong run from 2017 to 2023, tossing 299 2/3 innings for the Cardinals and Giants, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. His 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate over that span were both better than league average. He got enough leverage work to earn two saves and 47 holds in those seasons.
The past two years haven’t been as smooth, however. He signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the White Sox going into 2024. Between Chicago and a brief appearance with Atlanta late in the year, he had a 5.86 ERA. However, his 27.7% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate were still strong. His ERA spike seemed to be connected to a career-high 11 home runs allowed.
The Tigers signed him to a one-year, $2.75MM deal going into 2025, hoping for a bounceback. They didn’t get it. He struggled and was designated for assignment in June. Like the year before, he was briefly scooped up by Atlanta. He finished the year with a 7.71 ERA over 22 appearances. His 22.6% strikeout rate was around average but his 10.4% walk rate was subpar. His home run woes continued, as he allowed five in less than half as many innings pitched as in the year prior.
The Rockies had a collective 5.99 ERA in 2025, the worst such mark in the majors. They have very few experienced pitchers on the roster. Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela are the only two with more than five years of service time. Neither has been especially effective in recent years. If they get back on track in 2026, they will likely be traded since both are only signed through 2026, with contract options for 2027.
Brebbia is turning 36 in May and spent part of 2025 on the injured list due to a triceps strain. Maybe the odds of a bounceback aren’t great, particularly if he ends up pitching in Coors, but the Rockies need pitching more than any other club and will likely take a number of fliers on pitchers like this. They recently signed Parker Mushinski to a minor league deal and will certainly ink a few more deals of this type.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Zzzzzzzzzzzz
No that was John Curtiss. But I nearly made the same mistake.
That has to be the ugliest depth pool in MLB. However, i can see a very real opening day scenario where Bernabel is at 1B, Amador is at 2B, Karros is at 3B, and Crim is the DH (assuming Kris Bryant opens on the IL)
As of this moment, I think Ritter probably has the advantage at second base. I’m not sure if I would go as far to say that it was Ritter’s spot to lose, but I would say that if Opening Day were tomorrow Rotter would be starting and Amador would be at AAA or on the bench.
Good luck in Denver Naperville Nicky.
Hopefully they sign vets they can flip for single A lottery tickets. They need to build around the Holiday kid
Holliday won’t develop in that cesspool of a minor league system the Rockies have.
His dad did OK in that cesspool.
A few good and even great players have come out of that system through sheer luck.
With these signings they got 5th place on lock
With these signings on top of the other players mentioned somehow they could finish 6th in a 5 team division
They might win 50 games this year.
Dead Cat Bounce says the Rockies will rebound to 60 wins in 2026.
“Meanwhile” should START the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.