John (I miss Buster Posey already) Brebbia’s 2021 Year in Review

2021: 18 Games, 18.1 innings pitched, 22 SO, 1.58 WHIP, 5.80 ERA

It feels a little off to write about John Brebbia on a day like today.

No offense to Brebbia: he had a fun beard, his teammates seemed to like him, he was a member of the 2021 San Francisco Giants roster and thus contributed, in some way to their monumental success—but he only appeared in 18 games as a Giant, throwing a ball to a man who logged nearly 1400 appearances in the Orange and Black over the past decade and announced today there will be no more.

Gerald Buster Posey is retiring from baseball.

That is sad news.

And no amount of cold, rational Baseball Savant digging on John Brebbia can distract me from the emotions I feel right now.

My eyes are glazing over as I write this. My thoughts un-moor themselves. Mid-sentence, I swap tabs to watch Posey’s 2012 NLDS grand slam off Mat Latos for the hundredth time in the past 24 hours, which I follow up with a seven minute video of Buster framing borderline pitches for strikes.

Seven minutes well spent.

But Brebbia...Brebbia...I am talking about John Brebbia.

All it takes is a brief glance over Brebbia’s stat line to get it: 2021 was an underwhelming year.

It was his first year back from Tommy John Surgery. He was a right-handed arm who flashed potential, but was never able to cement a role in an incredibly deep Giants bullpen.

He spent a lot of time in Sacramento.

Brebbia is eligible for arbitration this year, but his projected million dollar cost might be on the pricier side for a bullpen that is mostly set in stone. It is likely John Brebbia will not be back in 2022.

But did you know his middle name is Fulboam? That’s pretty wild.

You know who has the most perfect and timeless baseball name of all time, ever and forever?

Buster Posey.

Thanks to 2021, John Fulboam Brebbia will always get to say he threw a baseball to Buster Posey.