It’s been an interesting few years in the majors for JT Brubaker since making his debut back in 2020. He’s flashed obvious skill that could make him a mainstay in a major league rotation, but always left you wanting more.
The basic counting stats had a rough look to them at times, but the advanced metrics always showed the potential that there was more there.
In what will be his third full season in the majors, Brubaker is looking to put it all together. If spring has been any indication of what is capable of, this could be the year.
He had a rough first inning in his spring debut on February 27, but since then has really hit his groove. Although he surrendered another home run on Friday, it looked like wind aided it a bit, and it just snuck inside the foul pole.
Brubaker’s breaking pitches have been fantastic early, creating some insane swing and miss numbers.
In three spring starts, hitters have swung at 38 of his breaking pitches. They have missed half of them (19). His March 5 outing saw him pick up seven whiffs on 11 swings with his slider. This past start he posted his lowest rate at just 33.3%.
JT Brubaker has an overall whiff rate of 37.5% (27/72) in three appearances this spring. His slider is at 50% whiff. Here are his from Friday + the changeup that was apparently fouled by Brandon Marsh but looked like he missed. I'll have more on him in the morning #Pirates pic.twitter.com/yVAkTRpOcp
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) March 11, 2023
Even his sinker has put in a 21.8% whiff rate, which isn’t great, but him only getting one miss in 13 swings on Friday really brought it down.
Although he didn’t generate a lot of whiffs with the sinker, it doesn’t mean he didn’t keep the hitters off balance. Brubaker threw eight called strikes with the pitch on Friday, striking out multiple hitters looking with it.
In total, Brubaker has posted a 32.8% called strike plus whiff rate, having a total of 53 (27 whiffs, 21 called strikes) across his 143 pitches.
Brubaker didn't get a lot of swing and miss with the sinker today, but did have eight called strikes with it. Overall in spring his called strikes + whiff rate is 37% #Pirates pic.twitter.com/lvKJevxmYa
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) March 11, 2023
Even if at this point his upside isn’t the highest, Brubaker has shown he has the makings of a reliable back-of-the-rotation starter. No Pirate has thrown more innings since 2020 than Brubaker, and he is now part of a rotation that could be one of the strengths of the team.
He’ll have to keep the home runs down, but he has done well keeping pitches down so far this spring. With this swing and miss, he could very much challenge Mitch Keller as one of the best starting pitchers on the team, and establish himself as a mainstay in a rotation that will have a few prospects knocking on the door this season.
Pirates Prospects Daily
By John Dreker
**Pirates Minor League Spring Training Schedule I had a few people write me for the minor league ST schedule, so thank them for this article.
**Pirates DVR: Endy Rodriguez Double, Drew Maggi Home Run, Carmen Mlodzinski
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**Pirates Prospects Daily: Endy Rodriguez Continues To Impress During Spring In case you missed it from yesterday
Song of the Day
Today’s Lineup
Ke’Bryan Hayes has been dealing with a minor thumb issue, but he’s back in the lineup. Pirates are at home against the New York Yankees. Televised game, 1:05 PM start
The squad vs. the Yankees.
