JT Brubaker works to 'unblend' his pitches, stand out for a spot in Pirates' starting rotation

Mar. 3—After being asked to first buy into the bullpen then stretch out to become a starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, JT Brubaker wants his breaking ball pitch path to follow that of his career arc.

The right-hander spent his rookie season trying to blend in.

Now, he wants to create some separation.

Brubaker worked in the offseason to "unblend" his slider and curveball, which could look like the same pitch out of his hand but at different speeds. His intention is to make them look different.

"Don't let the slider and curveball have the same sweeping action to where it is not recognized out of the hand," Brubaker said. "It is recognized as two separate pitches instead of one pitch, different speed. I'm trying to get the curveball to be more up and down and get the slider to stay the same."

So Brubaker wasn't beating himself up after allowing a home run in his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday in the Pirates' home opener at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.

Detroit shortstop Willi Castro reached outside for a Brubaker backdoor slider that caught too much of the plate, pulling it to right-center for a solo shot in the Tigers' 6-1 victory over the Pirates in five innings. It was the only hit Brubaker allowed in facing four batters, as he got a fly out, a strikeout and a groundout.

"I thought he was good," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "He threw one slider for a strike, then threw another one that didn't slide. Left it up and got hit. Other than that, I thought he was pretty good for the first time out. Threw the ball on the plate. Did a pretty good job. That was an encouraging sign."

The Pirates were encouraged enough by Brubaker's performance last season to give him a shot at a greater role, especially when they severed ties with Trevor Williams and traded Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon.

Brubaker was 1-3 with a 4.94 ERA over 47 1/3 innings in 11 appearances, including nine starts, and averaged 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

After beginning the season in the bullpen, he moved into the rotation when Mitch Keller went on the injured list.

The transition to a starting role was the easy part for Brubaker. The build-up was a different story, one that he likened to dipping a toe into the water until he was able to go five innings. Brubaker pitched at least that many in each of his final six starts, and had nine strikeouts on 98 pitches in 6 2/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 21 in his next-to-last start of the season.

"Yeah, he stepped in from the long role," Shelton said. "The thing that impressed me the most was the execution of pitches. He went through a stretch where he really executed pitches. When something did get away from him, it was a short period of time."

Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin and bullpen coach Justin Meccage challenged Brubaker to work on his consistency, repeat his delivery and stay in line. Shelton said Brubaker "got rotational" at times last season, something that was evident when he was out of whack.

"Those are the things we challenged him with to try to minimize," Shelton said. "Not only when those happen to emotionally stay under control but you do with all young pitchers. That was probably the thing that stood out to me the most. ... He took big steps last year, as a pitcher, as a person and the maturity. Really positive things."

So, Brubaker focused on his release, working to make sure he stays out in front with it and doesn't get too sidearm in his delivery. And he wants to develop a mentality to attack hitters by getting ahead in the count and staying north-south in the strike zone.

Brubaker wants to unblend by separating himself and his pitches.

"Mentally, if you're telling yourself to go after a hitter, your body's going to go after the hitter," Brubaker said. "So it starts mentally, just making sure I'm attacking and staying on the attack on hitters.

"I'm just trying to be myself. That's all I'm doing. Just go out there and attack hitters how I know how to attack, and then let the decisions be made by the staff."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .