The first year on the job can be one filled with learning experiences. At least that's how Pirates rookie pitcher JT Brubaker has gone about viewing his first season in the big leagues.
After making the club's opening day roster as a member of the bullpen, Brubaker has worked his way into the starting rotation following a few solid outings and multiple injuries to those ahead of him on the depth chart. Regardless of how get got there, Brubaker is currently in a spot that all pitchers hope to be in when they first sign with a major league franchise.
"We talk a lot about teaching points and we talk a lot about opportunities," Derek Shelton said of Brubaker prior to Tuesday's game against the White Sox. "... Going from the bullpen, to a piggy-back, into a starters role, he continues to get better. We continue to see him make strides going forward, or getting better. By doing that, it's allowing us to have different teaching points of his maturation."
In his last outing, Brubaker went five innings allowing a pair of runs, only one of them earned, on seven hits and a walk while striking out five batters on 86 pitches against the Cubs in his first career victory. While it was only the first time he ended the game in the win column, the righty has had consistent success all year, striking out 27 batters in 25.0 IP (9.7 K/9) and posting a 3.96 ERA.
"I feel like I've done pretty well," Brubaker said. "It's definitely been a learning curve. That's the one thing I am going to take from this year, just going out there and learning something new and just taking something from each start. Making myself better for the next start out."
One new thing he's learned that's helped lead him to success is pitching more efficiently in the strike zone. Brubaker and pitching coach Oscar Marin have both been vocal about him finding a way to take the battle to hitters. Brubaker believes he's finally starting to figure out how to make that happen.
"It's helped a lot," Brubaker said. "It's helped me just stay, I guess, over the plate. Whether it's below, above or in the zone, it's helped my visuals a lot. Just to where I need to look, where I need to have my visuals set to throw a ball and not try to get someone to chase a slider or an off-speed pitch into the other batters box."
Speaking of his slider, Brubaker has been using that pitch more than any of the others in his arsenal this season. In seven outings, including five starts, opposing teams are hitting just .188 against Brubaker's top pitch, which results in a whiff a third of the time he throws it.
"It was something I was working on a lot last year," Brubaker said when asked about the use of his slider. "Just the two-seam, slider combination playing off of each other. Unfortunately I went down so I never really got to throw too much. Right now I'm just continuing to work on it more and more and just allowing it to play off of each other."
Similar to what the club is going through this season, the Pirates' pitching staff suffered a sizable amount of injuries last year. Had Brubaker not been one of them, there would have been a very strong chance he made his big league debut in 2019. Brubaker says he was well aware of that reality, which in return has helped fuel him to make the most of every chance he gets in 2020.
"Last year, not saying I would have been up or should have been up or anything, I felt like I had an opportunity," Brubaker said. "So coming into this year, just getting the opportunity, I want to just take full advantage of it. Show that I can pitch up here."
One person Brubaker has made a believer is Shelton, who said after his win on Thursday that the rookie certainly has proven to have what it takes to compete in the show.
“The more starts he gets under his belt, I think he feels like he belongs in the big leagues," Shelton said. "That’s a major step for a player. It’s a step of like, “Hey, I really belong here.’ Once you start to execute pitches and get yourself out of jams, you realize you do belong here. I think we're seeing that maturation.”
With the end to this year's short season just a few weeks away, Brubaker will likely be one of the projected members of the starting rotation in 2021. However, Brubaker's mind remains in the present. When asked how often he thinks about next season, his reply was short, sweet and to the point.
"Really not too much," Brubaker said. "I'm new. Like I said, I'm still learning. I'm just trying to take it one start and one outing at a time. Just get better each time."