LOS ANGELES -- JT Brubaker hung his head when AJ Pollock’s fly ball flew just out of the reach of Bryan Reynolds’ glove over Dodger Stadium’s center field wall.
Shortly after that, he grimaced when Gregory Polanco couldn’t pull back Max Muncy’s second shot of the night.
Shortly after that, he was back on the bench, talking to Chad Kuhl. Kuhl was trying to encourage him after a seven run performance, telling him that homers are going to happen.
But this often?
Brubaker allowed three home runs Wednesday as the Dodgers completed their sweep of the Pirates, 9-0.
With those homers, he is now tied with Patrick Corbin of the Nationals for the most home runs allowed in the National League with 28.
“I'm sick of seeing the ball leave the park,” Brubaker said. “When it does, it just adds up and it's just even more frustrating."
This has been Brubaker’s greatest struggle during his nine-game losing streak, which started at the beginning of June. After a couple tough luck outings to start it, he has pitched to an 8.26 ERA over his last nine starts, allowing 17 home runs.
Dating back to at least 1901, that is the most home runs for any Pirates pitcher in a nine game stretch. The previous record was 15, done by Chris Archer in 2019 and Howie Pollett in 1951, according to Stathead.
The reason why isn’t exactly clear. Looking at the location of the pitches batters took deep in his previous eight starts, unsurprisingly, most were over the heart of the plate:
But that wasn’t the problem Wednesday. He avoided the center of the plate most of the night, but was still taken deep on three pitches away from the hitter.
“They're strong. It's just how it is,” Brubaker said. “You can execute a pitch and they can still catch enough barrel to backspin it out of the ballpark."
“I think with young pitchers, you see especially when they feel like they executed a pitch and it gets hit out that it’s a frustrating thing,” Derek Shelton said.
Brubaker was prone to home runs early in the season, but not nearly at this rate. All of his pitches have been taken deep. Coming up through the minors, his slider was his go-to pitch. As a rookie in 2020, he held batters to a .352 slugging clip against it. This year, he’s tied for the major league leading 11 home runs allowed with a slider, including the one to Pollock Wednesday.
It did play better Wednesday, though, getting six whiffs on 11 swings and accounting for three of his six strikeouts by keeping it down in the zone more.
“Honestly felt like I really located it well today,” Brubaker said about the pitch. “That’s the positive I’m taking from it – the slider was there. Now, I’m trying to build off of executing consistently with my other pitches.”
But the other pitches have been taken deep, too. Both of Max Muncy’s homers were on sinkers, making it seven times a Brubaker sinker has flown out of the park. Six have come off the four-seamer, and a pair for each the changeup and curveball, too.
Earlier this year, all of those pitches were working and Brubaker looked to be positioned for a breakout campaign. Considering Mitch Keller’s struggles and Miguel Yajure’s forearm injury that has sidelined him most of the season, Brubaker was the bright spot for the younger part of the rotation, something the team desperately needed. While the Pirates have a wealth of pitching prospects in Bradenton and Greensboro, their Class A affiliates, they are still years away from the majors. The team needs arms for 2022.
Which raises the question if perhaps it is better for Brubaker to start planning for next year instead. After his last start on August 12, Brubaker said he wasn’t physically or mentally tired, saying he felt fresh. But looking back on the abbreviated season in 2020 and being injured for most of 2019, he has long past eclipsed his workload from the past two seasons. Or if not shut down, perhaps unplugged for a bit, like what the club is doing with Bryse Wilson.
At the moment, it isn’t being considered.
“We haven’t talked through any of that as of now,” Shelton said. “As we’ve said numerous times, we’ll monitor workload going forward. Nothing specific to that right now.”
“We’d prefer to avoid the notion of a shutdown,” Ben Cherington said recently. “We think there is something valuable about completing the season and the mindset that’s necessary to prepare yourself, prepare ourselves to compete, to pitch, to try to win right to the end of the schedule. And we’ll continue to do the best we can to be thoughtful of the volume we’re asking of guys to manage risk the best we can. Ideally, we stay away from full shutdowns.”
So it looks like Brubaker will continue to work through this major slump. If he can break through, it would be a major win for himself and the coaching staff. But for now, it’s time to flush.
"When it's done, it's over with,” Brubaker said. “I've said it before, I'll say it again. Baseball, you've got to have a short memory. Now that the game's over, I can go back and reflect on it.”
GETTY
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The offense managed three hits -- two from Colin Moran -- and failed to advance a runner to second base.
Does anything else need to be said?
• For the life of me, I can't think of anything else about this game that is worthy of documentation.
Kyle Keller allowed a two-run homer to Corey Seager. Luis Oviedo pitched a scoreless inning. Rodolfo Castro came off the bench and ripped a single up the middle.
I'm stretching.
• The Pirates haven't beaten the Dodgers since June 6, 2018. How long ago was that? Austin Meadows had a hit and a walk for the Pirates that day.
• Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk did his weekly Zoom call with the media Wednesday. To run through the highlights:
Blake Cederlind (Tommy John) has started playing catch from flat ground.
Kuhl (returning from COVID-19) threw his first sim game Wednesday afternoon. The team should have conversations about activating him "sometime soon."
Bryse Wilson (arm fatigue) threw a side session Wednesday with no reported issues.
Anthony Alford (hamstring) is expected to join the team in St. Louis, though not to be activated quite yet.
Roansy Contreras (forearm) is expected to throw a side session in Altoona in the coming days. Oneil Cruz (forearm) could return as a designated hitter in the coming days.
Michael Burrows (oblique) is taking longer to return than the team would have liked, but he hasn't suffered a setback and because the minor league schedule goes deeper into September this year, the Pirates are optimistic he'll resume game activities for Greensboro again.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Hoy Park, SS
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Colin Moran, 1B
5. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
6. Wilmer Difo, 2B
7. Gregory Polanco, RF
8. Michael Pérez, C
9. JT Brubaker, RHP
And for Dave Roberts' Dodgers:
1. AJ Pollock, LF
2. Max Muncy, 1B
3. Justin Turner, 3B
4. Corey Seager, SS
5. Will Smith, C
6. Cody Bellinger, CF
7. Billy McKinney, RF
8. Gavin Lux, 2B
9. Justin Bruihl, LHP
THE SCHEDULE
It's an off-day Thursday before the Pirates start a weekend series in St. Louis. Mitch Keller (3-10, 6.86) will take the hill against Miles Mikolas (0-0, 2.25), with first pitch coming at 8:15 p.m. Eastern. I've got the second leg of the road trip.
IN THE SYSTEM
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
