Pirates A to Z: JT Brubaker's strong spring interrupted by Tommy John surgery, recovery

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z, an alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster.

Player: JT Brubaker

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Age: 29

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 180 pounds

2023 MLB statistics: Did not pitch after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April.

Contract: Enters second year of arbitration eligibility after making $2.275 million last season; projected to make $2.28 million in 2024.

Acquired: Selected in the sixth round out of the University of Akron in the 2015 MLB Draft.

This past season: Brubaker spent the 2022 offseason evaluating what he could have done better after going 3-12 with a 4.69 ERA and 1.47 WHIP while leading the Pirates with 147 strikeouts, lowering his home runs allowed from 28 to 17 in making 28 starts.

“There’s definitely another step,” Brubaker said. “I’m ready to take it.”

A strong spring training saw him record 26 strikeouts against three walks in five games, ranking among the Grapefruit League strikeout leaders, Pirates manager Derek Shelton was impressed by Brubaker’s improvement over the offseason.

“His stuff had ticked up,” Shelton said. “He’d had a good winter on the things we’d challenged him on at the end of the year. Everything just looked really sharp. … He looked like he was the best version of himself.”

JT Brubaker in Spring:

17.1 Innings
26 Strikeouts
3 Walks
1.10 WHIP pic.twitter.com/HxHgKYgfIt

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 21, 2023

When Brubaker missed his turn in the rotation in the final week, it was a bad sign. He had spent time on the injured list in September 2022 with right arm inflammation. Brubaker had missed the majority of the 2019 season with right forearm tightness, but a visit to famed elbow specialist Dr. James Andrews was met with a positive prognosis. Andrews said Brubaker’s elbow required only platelet-rich plasma injections to recover. This time, however, a second opinion only confirmed his worst fears: The Pirates’ 2022 Opening Day starter needed Tommy John surgery.

“It definitely was a blow-to-the-gut type of thing,” Brubaker said. “When it happened, you didn’t really want to believe that it was what it was going to be but it ended up turning out that way. I’m just glad we did the surgery and didn’t try to rehab it or PRP it and take the chance of it not working then being out all of next year, too. I feel like once we figured it out we took a plan of attack that was suitable for the quickest return and the longevity of it. Once I realized, ‘Hey, I’m out for this year and part of next year but it’s the right choice, in my opinion, for me and my career,’ it was a lot easier to handle and go through the rehab here.”

The Pirates announced that the procedure, performed by Arlington, Texas-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, would force Brubaker to miss the 2023 season and be out for 14-16 months.

“He’s going to overcome this elbow injury and get back,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “We’re gonna support him. Just one of those things. He worked hard to put himself in a good position this spring. He was having a good spring. Unfortunately he got an injury, and we’ll help him get through it.”

Brubaker’s injury would deplete a starting rotation that delivered 18 quality starts in the Pirates’ first 28 games, as they compiled the best record in the National League. While it opened the door for Johan Oviedo to make the Opening Day roster as a starter in a season he would join Mitch Keller in making 32 starts, Brubaker’s absence was felt even more when Vince Velasquez was shut down with an UCL injury.

“Watching the games and being here and able to rehab here definitely made it a lot harder to accept. I was like, ‘Man, this sucks. I could be helping,’” Brubaker said. “This was a good year and good feeling and good opportunity, if I was healthy, to be there and contribute in a big way.”

Brubaker’s progress was incremental, as he spent the first few weeks wearing a brace that limited his mobility. Brubaker credited his work with Pirates physical therapist Seth Steinhauer, who helped him during his PRP treatments in ’19, for providing a comfort zone.

“Seeing him go through his rehab, he’s done a really good job with it,” Shelton said. “I know it’s important for him to be around. It was probably more important for him to be around us than it was the other way around because he loves the game. If you spend any time talking with him, he really enjoys baseball. He enjoys talking about the strategy of it. He picks up on a ton of things during the game that you don’t see a lot of starting pitchers pick up. The fact that he’s been here with us has been really important but it’s good that he’s getting to the point where he’s now functionally going to be able to see progress in his mind to get back on the mound.”

Had to send our RBI teams off to regionals in style!

Oneil Cruz, Ji Hwan Bae, and JT Brubaker helped surprise more than 50 youth and coaches from all the Pirates Nike RBI league with custom City Connect jerseys. pic.twitter.com/p5W6tr6afV

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 20, 2023

The future: As the Pirates’ season was ending, Brubaker’s recovery was just beginning. He was starting plyometrics, working his way toward a throwing program.

Brubaker said he planned to use his Grapefruit League success as motivation.

“The stuff that I did in spring and everything, I think I’ve engraved that into my mind enough to where it’s like when I do start throwing, or off the mound, that type of attack and mentality that I was carrying in spring and in the games will still be there,” Brubaker said. “It’ll be more building confidence of building the arm back up when I get to that stage. That’s where I’m gonna have to really grasp and trust that this process is gonna be long and that the arm is healing. We’re strengthening it in the right way that we need to to where I do get back into a game, there is no doubt in my mind that it’s just my arm. There’s no other outside lying factors.”

The one thing Brubaker won’t have on his mind is whether the elbow is a ticking time bomb. He said it feels like a new elbow, and was inspired by conversations with former teammates Jameson Taillon and Rich Hill about returning to pitching after major reconstructive surgery.

“I don’t remember what my elbow felt like before ’19,” Brubaker said. “It was always like, this happened and you get a new normal so you don’t remember what your original normal was like. It does feel like a new elbow but it feels normal. It feels healthy. I get soreness in there, and that’s a good sign I’m working it.”

After missing a full season, Brubaker wants to treat the offseason like it was his regular season. He planned to split time between his home in Ohio and Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., concentrating on his mechanics and making sure he doesn’t compensate and create bad habits.

Brubaker already has a timeline for his return in mind.

“I’m hoping to do my rehab assignment before All-Star break and to be back up here post-All-Star break. That’s my goal,” Brubaker said. “I’m assuming logistics-wise, it would be all around better to do it post-All-Star break rather than to get ready, pitch before All-Star break, go through the All-Star break and then get back up. I think my opening day back in the big leagues will be post-All-Star break and just roll out through the rest.”