Pirates tab RHP JT Brubaker as Opening Day starter at St. Louis, their 7th in as many years

JT Brubaker will be the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals on April 7, manager Derek Shelton announced Sunday during the AT&T SportsNet telecast.

Brubaker is the seventh different pitcher to start the opener in as many years. The 28-year-old right-hander is 6-16 with a 5.24 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 171 2/3 innings in 33 starts over two seasons. Brubaker was 5-13 with a 5.36 ERA in 124 1/3 innings over 24 starts last year, enduring a string of 12 consecutive losses. He averaged 9.3 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings and gave up a team-high 28 home runs.

JT Brubaker is the #Pirates seventh different Opening Day starter in the last seven years, joining Chad Kuhl (2021), Joe Musgrove (2020), Jameson Taillon (2019), Ivan Nova (2018), Gerrit Cole (2017) and Francisco Liriano (2016).

— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) April 3, 2022

In three Grapefruit League appearances this spring, Brubaker is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks while striking out eight as opponents batted .267 against him.

An hour before Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., Shelton asked Brubaker if he wanted to pitch Thursday.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, give me the ball, let’s go,’” Brubaker told MLB.com. “It was kind of a speechless moment, really. I didn’t know how to react. I wanted to jump through the ceiling, but at the same time, it’s like, ‘All right, make sure you know what you’re doing. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.’ I was kind of speechless and in awe in that moment.”