The Pirates activated JT Brubaker to start today’s game against the Cubs. To make room on the roster, Kyle Keller was optioned to Triple-A, per Kevin Gorman of Tribune-ReviewSports (via Twitter).
The 27-year-old Brubaker has started a career-high 23 games for the Pirates, pitching to a 5.27 ERA/5.23 FIP in 121 1/3 innings. Brubaker may not be considered a long-term piece for Pittsburgh, but he has eaten valuable innings this year and will probably have the opportunity to do so again next season. He has a 23.7 percent strikeout rate, 6.9 percent walk rate, and 43.1 percent groundball rate, all of which are close to league average.
Keller has made 23 appearances out of the bullpen, pitching to a 7.13 ERA/7.62 FIP. The 28-year-old has suffered from wandering command, walking 16.1 percent of batters while only striking out 22.3 percent of opponents.
Brubaker looked solid in the first half of 2021, but I still believe that he’ll be a better arm out of the bullpen. I really like Brubaker and I’d love to see him remain a starting pitcher, but he’s yet to be very consistent out of the rotation. Pirates have a ton of young pitching talent that will come up over the course of the next 1-2 years, so maybe at least get him used to a role as a later-inning arm.
I think that he is an example of someone who is not used to pitching this much.He did not pitch much in 2019 due to injury and only some in the distinctly shortened season last year.He is not a top of the line starter but has a decent chance to be a decent 4 th starter.On the Pirates That is called a potential ace.I do not think that they should give up on him as a starter until the middle of next year if he continues to pitch relatively poorly.
I agree. Only pitched 27+ innings in 2019 and 47+ last season. I would believe some fatigue has been involved from the lack of innings. Glad to see that they gave him 10 days off and will see how he finishes.
Pirates are a joke. JT Brubaker, perfect example. He can be cruising, they yank him, a 27yr old non-prospect, after 80 pitches. Or he comes out of the gate laboring – and this joke of a team leaves him in to give up a ton of runs, baserunners, etc until he accumulates 80 pitches. You can’t pin idiocy like this on the owner.
I think that Shelton had done a relatively good job this year,only average last year,but lately it seems that he sometimes leaves pitchers in way too long and lets the game get out of hand.It does not seem like he anticipates a poor performance and does not have someone ready.He has enough young pitchers on this roster to know better.
Agreed. I expect him gone after this season. Team pretty much needs four starting pitchers, everyone in their rotation is no better than a #5.
Babying pitchers seems useless as well, they can get hurt either way seemingly at random,. And especially with guys who aren’t really a prized possession, just let them rip.
Rebuilding
Shelton isn’t going anywhere after the season. He will be back next season. They will make a decision on him just before the 2022 season ends. And let’s be real, the guy has nothing to work with.