Jonathan Trey Brubaker (born November 17, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020.

Early life and amateur career

Brubaker attended Tecumseh High School in New Carlisle, Ohio, and the University of Akron, where he played college baseball for the Akron Zips. In 2015, his junior year, he had a 5–4 win–loss record with a 3.63 earned run average (ERA) over 15 games started. He was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks ...

Professional career

Brubaker signed with Pittsburgh for a $200,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

and made his professional debut that season with the West Virginia Black Bears, compiling a 6–4 record with a 2.82 ERA over 15 starts. In 2016, he played for the

West Virginia Power The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The Dir ...

and the Bradenton Marauders where he pitched to a combined 6–11 record with a 4.44 ERA in 26 starts between the two clubs, and in 2017, he pitched with the Altoona Curve, going 7–6 with a 4.44 ERA in 26 games (24 starts). Brubaker began 2018 with Altoona and was promoted to the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

in May. In 28 starts between both teams, he went 10–6 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. After the season, the Pirates named Brubaker their minor league pitcher of the year. The Pirates added him to their 40-man roster after the season. He returned to Indianapolis to begin 2019, but appeared in only six games during the season due to injury. Brubaker made the Opening Day roster in 2020 and made his major league debut on July 26, pitching 2 scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished the shortened 2020 season with a 1–3 record, a 4.94 ERA and 48 strikeouts in innings. In 2021, he went 5–13 with a 5.36 ERA and 129 strikeouts in innings over 24 starts. In 2022, Brubaker made 28 starts for Pittsburgh, logging a 3-12 record and 4.69 ERA with 147 strikeouts in 144.0 innings pitched. On January 13, 2023, Brubaker agreed to a one-year, $2.275 million contract with the Pirates, avoiding salary arbitration. Brubaker was placed on the injured list to begin the 2023 season due to forearm/elbow discomfort. On April 12, Brubaker underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, ending his season.

Personal life

Brubaker and his wife, Darci, had their first child, a son, in August 2022.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brubaker, J.T. 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Springfield, Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players Akron Zips baseball players West Virginia Black Bears players West Virginia Power players Bradenton Marauders players Altoona Curve players Glendale Desert Dogs players Indianapolis Indians players