Jacob Daniel Brigham (born February 10, 1988) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Wei Chuan Dragons The Wei Chuan Dragons () are a professional baseball team in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations regarding the franchise's revival and return to the CPBL took ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL). He made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) debut in 2015 with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, and has also played for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) and Nexen / Kiwoom Heroes of the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

Career

Texas Rangers

Brigham attended Central Florida Christian Academy in Orlando, Florida, where he played for the school's baseball team. He pitched a no-hitter in 2005, his junior season, against West Oak, though he allowed two unearned runs. The Texas Rangers drafted Brigham in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. They added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

after the 2011 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Chicago Cubs

In July 2012, Brigham was traded to the Chicago Cubs for

Geovany Soto Geovany Soto (born January 20, 1983) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from 2005 to 2017, most prominently as a member of the Chicago Cubs where he appeared in the MLB ...

Second Stint with Rangers

He was traded back to the Rangers for

Barret Loux Barret Christopher Loux (born April 6, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. After Loux attended Stratford High School (Stratford, Texas), Stratford High School and Texas A&M University, the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Lou ...

on November 20, 2012. He was non tendered by the Rangers on November 30 and became a free agent, but re-signed with the Rangers on a minor league contract. Brigham became a free agent again after the 2013 season.

Pittsburgh Pirates

He signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization for the 2014 season.

Atlanta Braves

He signed with the

' organization prior to the 2015 season. Brigham was called up to the majors for the first time on June 27, 2015. Brigham made his Major League debut on June 30, 2015, pitching three innings against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

while striking out four batters and allowing only one hit. He elected free agency on November 6.

Detroit Tigers

On December 11, 2015, Brigham signed a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On December 18, 2015, the Tigers sold Brigham's rights to the

Detroit Tigers (second stint)

On January 10, 2017, Brigham signed a minor-league contract with the Tigers.

Nexen/Kiwoom Heroes

On May 4, 2017, Brigham signed a contract with the

Nexen Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Se ...

of the

. Brigham signed a $650,000 contract for the 2018 season with the Heroes on November 24, 2017. On November 23, 2018, Brigham re-signed to a $900,000 contract with the team, now named the

Kiwoom Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Se ...

, for the 2019 season. Brigham posted a 13–5 record with a 2.96 ERA over 158.1 innings in 2019. On December 9, 2019, Brigham re-signed with Kiwoom for the 2020 season on a $950,000 contract. Following the 2020 season, the Heroes announced they would part ways with Brigham, and he became a free agent.

Wei Chuan Dragons

On December 26, 2020, Brigham signed with the

of the

for the 2021 season. On March 19, 2021, Brigham made his CPBL debut. Through his first four starts with the Dragons, Brigham pitched to a 0.42 ERA and 0.78 WHIP over 21.2 innings of work.

Kiwoom Heroes (second stint)

On April 15, 2021, Brigham's contract was purchased by the

of the

. In 10 starts, Brigham posted a 7–3 record with a 2.95 ERA. On September 4, 2021, Brigham parted ways with the club for personal reasons.

Wei Chuan Dragons (second stint)

On January 5, 2022, Brigham re-signed with the

of the

for the 2022 season.

Personal life

Brigham and his wife, Taylor, have three daughters and a son He is the nephew of former White Sox catcher

Ron Karkovice Ronald Joseph Karkovice (born August 8, 1963) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 1st round of the 1982 MLB amateur draft, Karkovice would make his Major League Baseball debut with the Chi ...

References

External links

KBO League Statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brigham, Jake 1988 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in South Korea American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Arizona League Rangers players Atlanta Braves players Bakersfield Blaze players Baseball players from Florida Frisco RoughRiders players Gwinnett Braves players Hickory Crawdads players Indianapolis Indians players Jamestown Jammers players KBO League pitchers Kiwoom Heroes players Major League Baseball pitchers Mississippi Braves players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers People from Winter Garden, Florida Round Rock Express players Spokane Indians players Tennessee Smokies players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players Wei Chuan Dragons players