Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates' JT Brubaker ready for entrance in 1st major-league start

What made an impression on JT Brubaker about his electric major-league debut was more the entrance than his performance for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

That’s saying something, considering Brubaker struck out four St. Louis Cardinals in two innings of a 5-1 victory. That it came in relief was something of a surprise for a right-hander who was stretched out to be a starter in training camp and has shown an aggressive style of pitching.

“Running out from the bullpen was a little different, but it was actually more exciting, in my opinion,” Brubaker said. “You’re actually able to see the entire stadium out there from the outfield, especially in St. Louis. Just being able to look up at those three decks, it’s a pretty big stadium. So, just being able to get the view of the stadium was actually a cool experience.

“Coming out from the dugout, you’re the one that’s starting the game, you’re the one that has (to set) the pace of play, so that’s the exciting part about coming out and starting.”

Brubaker followed his debut by allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts in a 4-3 loss at Cubs last Saturday. Coupled with Mitch Keller’s oblique injury, that earned Brubaker a chance to make his first major-league start against Kenta Maeda (2-0, 1.54 ERA) and the Minnesota Twins at 1:35 p.m. Thursday at PNC Park.

“We knew, with how well he pitched, we wanted him to be on our club,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “And there wasn’t an opportunity for him to start, so the fact that there’s been a little bit of a pare back down of him coming out of the bullpen and how well he’s throwing out of the bullpen, I think he deserves the opportunity to start.”

Whether Brubaker can help the Pirates snap their seven-game losing streak is another story.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker delivers on July 7, 2020, at PNC Park.

1. Bullpen blues: Brubaker is a perfect example of the problems of the Pirates’ pitching staff. Where he could have provided depth to a relief corps that is without closer Keone Kela and has lost Nick Burdi, Kyle Crick, Michael Feliz and Clay Holmes to injuries, Brubaker is needed to fill Keller’s spot in the starting rotation.

Shelton said it’s “reasonable” to expect Brubaker to throw four or five innings or so against the Twins, but the Pirates might need him to go more if he can pitch with efficiency.

“I mean, if his pitch count’s really low, we may have a different conversation, and hopefully we’re having a different conversation,” Shelton said, “but we want to be mindful of building him back up to be a part of our rotation.”

JT Brubaker ?#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/obw4OTvbsD

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 2, 2020

2. Hi, Mom: One of the downsides of baseball being played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic is that major-league milestones lose some of their luster for rookies.

Brubaker knows he can’t pitch in front of fans, let alone his family. His parents both took off work so they could watch the game on television, the only way to see their son pitch.

“They’re going to sit at home and watch the game,” Brubaker said. “They’ll be cheering. That’s what they’ve been doing, just watching the games at home, just hanging out. That’s it. That’s all they can do. … It sucks but you’ve got to get past it. You’re able to talk to them, at least, FaceTime or phone calls daily. You know you’ve got their support, so that kind of shadows over the fact that they can’t make it.”

3. No way, Jose: Shelton dropped a bit of a bombshell in his postgame interview Wednesday night when he announced that the Pirates had optioned Jose Osuna and Guillermo Heredia to their satellite camp in Altoona to get the roster down to 28 players.

Both started the season opener at St. Louis, with Osuna as designated hitter and Heredia in right field with Gregory Polanco out after testing positive for covid-19.

Osuna went 2 for 4 in that game and hit a two-run homer in his second start (in right field) against the Cardinals. But the Pirates preferred the gloves of Phillip Evans and Erik Gonzalez at third base and rotated Josh Bell and Colin Moran at first and DH. That left Osuna, who hit a major league-best five pinch-hit homers last season, the odd man out.

Heredia was signed to be the fourth outfielder but was surpassed by Cole Tucker after the Pirates switched him from shortstop, and the activation of JT Riddle made Heredia expendable.

4. Lined up: Shelton has drawn criticism for using a dozen different lineups in as many games, but it also shows that many Pirates players had an opportunity to earn playing time.

What worked for Gonzalez and Evans did not for Osuna and Heredia, who can always be recalled from Altoona. But the Pirates have lost seven consecutive games, so they might be better off giving their young position players a chance.

That’s the case for Tucker, a natural shortstop with the athleticism to play the outfield. So, you can look at these moves as the Pirates giving up on Osuna and Heredia or being optimistic that top prospects like Tucker and, say, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes will get a chance to play this season.

Then again, it could mean more of Evans, Gonzalez and Riddle.

Bell to the bushes! #RingIt pic.twitter.com/IGllnFcSo7

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 6, 2020

5. Bell ringer: Shelton shrugged off the decision to move Bell to the third spot in the batting order as simply getting him guaranteed at-bats in the first inning.

But Shelton did mention that the Twins did the same thing last year with Nelson Cruz, despite the designated hitter having more than twice as many at-bats at cleanup than any other spot in the order.

Bell isn’t complaining, especially after going 3 for 4 with a single, double and two-run home run in the 5-2 loss to the Twins on Wednesday night at PNC Park.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to hit in the three hole in the big leagues, so it’s definitely an awesome experience,” Bell said. “I would say this is my best day in the three hole. I know I’ve played (there) a few times in the past but this was definitely my coming out party for the three spot and there’s a lot more to come, for sure.”

Both of Bell’s extra-base hits were to the opposite side of the field, as he doubled off the left-field wall and homered to deep center. Bell credited Colin Moran for noticing a point of emphasis.

“It’s something that Colin was talking to me about,” Bell said. “He was like, ‘Dude, when you were right last year, it seemed like you’re holding your backside. And at the very last instant, you’d throw your hands forward. Your contact point was a lot deeper last year, you were fouling balls off a lot more in tougher counts and putting more balls in play.’ It’s something I worked on, and brought into the game and it definitely worked.”