BALTIMORE -- When JT Brubaker keeps the sinker down, he is a quality major-league starter that can give his team six innings. When he commands it well, he attacks the strike zone and gets a much higher percentage of ground balls.
This is the recipe for a successful version of Brubaker. Or, at least, it's a key ingredient for that recipe.
"I think that's where it starts," Derek Shelton said after Saturday night's game in Baltimore. "When you're able to keep the sinker down, then you get more balls on the ground. That's what he has to do."
Saturday night was another example of when Brubaker doesn't keep the sinker down, or command it at all. It results in lots of hard contact, which usually leads to too many base hits, extended innings and ultimately a short outing. That's exactly what happened, and was a big reason why the Pirates lost to the Orioles, 6-3.
Brubaker allowed three runs in four innings, but it could have been a lot worse. He allowed eight hits and walked two batters, which caused all kinds of traffic on the bases. Four of the eight hits surrendered came off the sinker, including an RBI double by Brett Phillips that gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
It was apparent early on Brubaker didn't have command of the sinker, which made him turn to his curveball and slider. Unfortunately for Brubaker, those weren't sharp enough to salvage the outing, even while striking out six batters.
"It's just pitch selection at that point," Brubaker said regarding how to combat lack of sinker command. "Being able to execute what’s working for you, recognize what’s working for you, then working off of that."
"When the sinker gets up, and then the execution of the breaking ball isn't as sharp as we want," Shelton said, "then you end up seeing a lot of pitches in a shorter outing."
That's exactly what happened. Brubaker threw 88 pitches just to get through four innings of work.
The sinker has really helped a couple pitchers this season. Mitch Keller adopted it, and has looked more and more like the pitcher the Pirates originally envisioned. Bryse Wilson has started throwing it much more often, and it's a big part of why he is currently trending upward. As we've seen with Brubaker, he's at his best when he commands it and pounds the bottom of the zone. Then, he can throw the two breaking balls off of that.
In an age where high-velocity fastballs up in the zone dominate, sinkers can give some pitchers a distinct advantage. Not only does it go against what batters are constantly training for, it's even given some pitchers more confidence to pound the strike zone repeatedly because of it.
Once a pitcher finds success with a specific repertoire, another step in growth is learning how to pitch without your best stuff. Keller did that one night ago, and gave the Pirates a great chance to win. Brubaker didn't have that tonight.
"When it’s just hit or miss," Brubaker explained, "it’s hard to pitch off the fastball or the sinker that I like to pitch off of."
More growing pains for the Pirates. But, identifying the roadblocks that stand in the way is part of the process.
Finding ways to obliterate them, that's a whole other endeavor.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Speaking of roadblocks, it seems like there's only one in the way preventing Ke'Bryan Hayes from turning into the player we all know he is capable of: trading some ground balls for line drives. It's not a question of whether Hayes can barrel up a baseball. Can he find a way to hit the ball in the air more often without overcompensating, turning into a fly ball/pop out guy?
We saw an instance of the two ends of the spectrum tonight. First, trailing 5-2 in the sixth inning, Hayes drilled a line drive up the middle for an RBI single to pull the Pirates within two runs:
Then, trailing 6-3 in the eighth, Hayes stepped up to the plate representing the tying run with nobody out. Momentum was swinging in the Pirates' favor late in the game, and Hayes drilled an 89-mph fastball from Nick Vespi, hitting it 110.5 mph. Only, it was hit on the ground, giving Jorge Mateo a chance to do this:
"It kinda sucked. I hit it pretty hard. He made a really good play. [Rougned] Odor was able to turn it," Hayes said. "Who knows what would have happened if that ball gets through."
A run probably scores, which would have brought Oneil Cruz to the plate representing the go-ahead run with momentum on his side.
• We know what Cruz is capable of. Of all his flaws so far in his young career, coming through with runners on base isn't one of them. In 39 games this year, Cruz has batted in 29 runs. Say what you want about RBIs and how valuable they are nowadays, but the guy simply finds ways to get runners home.
Trailing 3-0, and in desperate need of something to spark the offense, Cruz did exactly that, pulling the Pirates within a run:
However, along with most rookies, there will be times where Cruz looks horribly overmatched. With all momentum taken away on the double play to rob Hayes in the eighth, Cruz stepped in the box, fell behind 0-2, then flailed at a pitch far outside the strike zone:
"As we've talked about, we're gonna see him do really good things and have really good at-bats," Shelton said. "Then we're gonna see him maybe get a situation where he gets a little swing happy and chase. We saw that today."
It's all part of learning how to become a major-league hitter.
• On top of Brubaker's struggles, the bullpen didn't have its best night. After Cruz's two-run homer in the fourth made it a 3-2 ballgame, Eric Stout gave those two runs back when he relieved Brubaker in the fifth inning, putting the Pirates back in a three-run hole.
After Hayes' RBI single made it a 5-3 game, Duane Underwood Jr. pitched a scoreless sixth, but needed 24 pitches to do so. Then, Chase De Jong struggled badly with his command in the seventh, walking a total of three batters and throwing a wild pitch, allowing Cedric Mullins to expand Baltimore's lead to 6-3 on a sacrifice fly.
• After Bligh Madris pinch hit for Jason Delay in the seventh, José Godoy came in as the new catcher in the bottom of the inning. Godoy became the 59th player the Pirates have used this season, the highest total in Major League Baseball and the second-most in a single season in franchise history, trailing only the 64 different players used in 2021.
Godoy is also the seventh different player to appear at catcher for the Pirates this season (Delay, Michael Perez, Tyler Heineman, Roberto Perez, Andrew Knapp and Josh VanMeter), the highest total in baseball. It is also the fourth-most catchers the Pirates have used in a single season, behind the 1914 (nine), 1953 (eight) and 2011 (eight) clubs.
• The Orioles celebrated 30 years at Camden Yards Saturday night. Orioles legends were on hand, including Ubaldo Jimenez, Mike Mussina, Eddie Murray and Brooks Robinson. Since the ballpark opened in the 1990s, there was a 90s theme, which included a postgame concert featuring Smash Mouth and Sisco.
There were also 41,086 fans in attendance -- the largest crowd of the season for the Orioles since Opening Day. With Baltimore just one game out of a wild card spot, the fans' interest in the game made Saturday night a great baseball atmosphere.
First pitch coming momentarily. Follow along with the action: https://t.co/EsCgey5vDC pic.twitter.com/r9ijoVF8Jj
— Chris Halicke (@ChrisHalicke) August 6, 2022
THE ESSENTIALS
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: C Tyler Heineman (right groin strain), OF Jake Marisnick (great toe)
• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (low back), LHP Dillon Peters (left elbow inflammation)
• 60-day injured list: OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Kevin Newman, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Ben Gamel, RF
4. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
5. Oneil Cruz, DH
6. Tucupita Marcano, 2B
7. Greg Allen, LF
8. Josh VanMeter, 1B
9. Jason Delay, C
And for Brandon Hyde's Orioles:
1. Cedric Mullins, CF
2. Adley Rutschman, C
3. Anthony Santander, RF
4. Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
5. Terrin Vavra, DH
6. Ramón Urías, 3B
7. Rougned Odor, 2B
8. Jorge Mateo, SS
9. Brett Phillips, LF
THE SCHEDULE
Same two teams tomorrow, first pitch at 1:35 p.m. Bryse Wilson (1-6, 6.20) is set to face off against righty Spenser Watkins (4-1, 5.54). I'll have you covered once again.
THE CONTENT
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