Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker seeks sense of normalcy, ready to take next step as a starter

BRADENTON, Fla. — When the Pittsburgh Pirates returned to Pirate City for spring training, JT Brubaker found a sense of normalcy — something that’s been missing for the right-hander since 2018.

After being shelved with forearm soreness in 2019, the 29-year-old has dealt with a variety of disruptions and distractions that affected his rhythm. The covid-19 pandemic interrupted spring training in 2020 and caused a shortened 60-game season. Spring training started late in 2021 and again last year because of the lockout.

No wonder Brubaker believes he’s bound for his best season in the majors, given he’s healthy and spent the offseason working on refining his pitch mix so he can attack hitters in different ways.

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

JT Brubaker faces Oneil Cruz in live batting practice at Pirate City. pic.twitter.com/KVl2AyDGOi

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 23, 2023

Brubaker spent the offseason evaluating what he could have done better last season, when he went 3-12 with a 4.69 ERA and 1.47 WHIP but led the Pirates with 147 strikeouts and lowered his home run totals from 28 to 17 in 29 appearances, including 28 starts.

“Just looking back over the entire season, the big thing I was surprised about was my home run numbers were down, strikeouts were up, but the walks were up,” said Brubaker, who averaged 3.4 walks per nine innings. “That’s going back to why I wondered what kind of pitches could I use. I was never a guy that walked a lot of people. I was always in the zone. That was something I definitely looked back on and was like, I need to lower the walks and, hopefully in return, less two-run shots go down even more, more strikeouts and keeping guys off base.

“It just makes pitching out of the windup more consistent and not having to be out of the stretch more than you’re in the windup.”

Brubaker wanted to work on the minutiae, like fine-tuning his mechanics, but also looked at the big picture. He wants to increase the usage of his changeup, which he threw on 5.1% of his pitches, so it can complement his sinker/slider mix and curveball.

A consistent changeup would add another weapon to Brubaker’s arsenal, one that will run in on a right-handed hitter and away to a lefty instead of having just one pitch that does that. If used effectively, the changeup will make it harder for hitters to eliminate one side of the plate. He worked on throwing the pitch with the same arm action as a fastball.

“I’m trying to develop the changeup and be able to have it and use it as a weapon and not just a show-me pitch or a wasted pitch at times, like it was last year,” Brubaker said. “I’ve really been able to focus on that, throw it over the plate, trust that it’s going to move, trust that it’s going to knock off speed and that it’s going to be a quality pitch.”

Brubaker’s goal is to be available every fifth day, with an eye on making 30 starts for the first time in his career. A late stint on the 15-day injured list with right arm inflammation prevented Brubaker from reaching his goal of making 30 starts and has him searching for more stability.

“I think he took some of those steps last year,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “In terms of health, he had the hiccup there toward the end. He made his starts. He had his innings. … For him, it’s the consistency of the everyday work and the consistency of just being able to handle the tough situations and not letting them speed up on him, him controlling his own tempo.”