Brubaker Leasa Bullpen as Bucs Salvage a Game Against Cardinals
Heading into Sunday's series finale in St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Pirates were sitting at 0-2 after back-to-back tough losses. After the bullpen blew the game late in the opener, the Bucs got obliterated in game two of the series 9-1 and was looking to salvage a win before returning home. Game three of the series saw the Pirates ahead 3-1 after the fifth inning, and the bullpen was coming in trying to keep the Bucs in front. Manager Derek Shelton decided to go with rookie JT Brubaker, who was making his Major League debut, and the young right-hander combined with two other pitchers to preserve the win.
Brubaker was the most impressive out of the three relievers used, and he helped jumpstart a bullpen that has been otherwise stagnant in the exhibition games and the first two games of the season. Brubaker was named the organization's Minor League pitcher of the year in 2018 and was raring to make his MLB debut in 2019. However, it was a season full of injuries for both the Bucs and Brubaker, and the stars never aligned to allow him to make that jump to the Major Leagues. He entered 2020 Spring Training ready to compete for a roster spot, and once again he was denied by a global pandemic. Finally, four months later, Brubaker got the call from the pen and entered a Major League game.
It wasn't a typical role for Brubaker, but he took it in stride and threw two scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out four batters. His stuff looked great and showed a lot of movement throughout the afternoon. He hit 95 miles per hour a couple of times and complemented that with a slider that hit between 85 and 82 miles per hour. He got the chance to work with people on base and showed that he can get out of jams while preserving a lead. His outing was big not only for his self-confidence but for a struggling Pirates bullpen as well.
Right from the start, Brubaker was faced with a challenge as he was going up against the top three hitters in the Cardinals order. He did not back down as he went right after Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong. After falling behind 2-1 with a combination of his fastball and curveball, Brubaker used his slider to work back into the count. The count went full at 3-2 and the young righty just trusted his stuff and once a fan went with the slider. He made Wong look silly as he swung out of his helmet and went down to one knee. It was the first Major League strikeout for Brubaker and a big confidence boost against one of the best Cardinal bats.
Brubaker would come back and struck out Tommy Edman before having to face the biggest power threat on the Cardinals in Paul Goldschmidt. He used his breaking stuff to even the count at 1-1 before Goldschmidt lined a single to left. However, he was cut down as Bryan Reynolds threw him out advancing to second base. Brubaker threw just 13 pitches in the inning and did so well that Shelton trusted him to go back out there in a close ball game. The Pirates were still clinging to a three-run lead and were counting on Brubaker to get them to the back-end of the bullpen.
He would have to go through the middle of the Cardinals' order and just continued to attack the strike zone with a steady dose of sliders. After allowing a leadoff double to Paul DeJong, Brubaker came back and struck out Matt Carpenter on six pitches. Yadier Molina followed with a single and Brubaker was in his first jam with runners on first and second and nobody out. He would face Dexter Fowler and used the fastball to get ahead 1-2. Brubaker dropped his slider in the dirt and Fowler laid off. So, Brubaker brought the pitch up and had it trail away from Fowler to get the swing and a miss for the second out. He would get a flyball to centerfield for the final out finishing his day.
Brubaker was pretty efficient throughout the afternoon, needing 28 pitches to get through the two innings of relief. In his initial outing, his slider was definitely his top pitch and he balanced it out with a nice two-seam fastball. The grips look about the same, but the movement is very different. His two-seamer breaks to the right, while his slider adds a great deal of vertical drop. The combo has batters expecting the ball to stay straight and then swinging over the top when the bottom drops out. It is a recipe for a lot of strikeouts and something that could be successful for Brubaker in the Major Leagues.
Brubaker helped pave the way for Michael Feliz and Nick Burdi to throw scoreless innings and secure Shelton's first managerial win. Both pitched a 1-2-3 innings with Feliz striking out one and Burdi striking out the side at the end of the game. We have talked about it all year that the bullpen is going to be a key factor for the Pirate's success. Up until Brubaker entered the game, the bullpen had looked stagnant. However, it was the bullpen that ended up winning the day in the Pirate's first win of the season. We don't want to jump to any conclusions with Brubaker, but his first outing of his professional career looked like a strong one.
Brubaker and the Bucs return home tomorrow for the 2020 home opener tomorrow when they take on the Milwaukee Brewers at 7:05 pm. Steven Brault (0-0) starts for the Pirates while the Brewers counter with Adrian Houser (0-0). Follow along on our social media channels as we will be providing live coverage throughout the night! Use #OpeningWiththeCove on Twitter to follow along with all the coverage on Facebook and Twitter throughout the night.
Comments
Post a Comment