Pittsburgh Pirates Grapefruit League: JT Brubaker Set For Third Spring Start

In Friday afternoon's Grapefruit League action JT Brubaker will lead the Pittsburgh Pirates into Clearwater to battle the Philadelphia Phillies

The Grapefruit League schedule for the Pittsburgh Pirates will continue to chug along on Friday afternoon. At 1:05 PM ET the Pirates will travel to BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater to play the Philadelphia Phillies.

Entering Friday's contest the Pittsburgh Pirates own a Grapefruit League record of 3-8-2. They are coming off of a 10-7 loss against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. As for the Phillies, they will enter the game with a Grapefruit League record of 6-6. This is the third matchup this spring between the two squads.

JT Brubaker will take the mound for the Pirates on Friday afternoon. Making his third appearance and start of the spring, Brubaker will be looking to build upon a strong outing in his most recent start. So far this spring Brubaker has allowed 2 runs on four hits, a home run, a walk, and nine strikeouts in 5.0 innings pitched.

Brubaker most likely has a spot in the team's Opening Day rotation locked up. While his 4.69 ERA last season was not the prettiest, he did pitch better than that ERA. He walked just 8.4% of batters faced while striking out 23% of opposing hitters. He posted a strong 3.92 FIP.

In 2022 Brubaker's ERA was inflated by back-to-back poor starts to begin the season, the second of which saw him get burned by poor defense. He also struggled in his final start of the season, a start he likely should not have made but isntead should have remained on the injured list.

Overall, Brubaker was a stalwart for the Pirates last season. He made 28 starts and pitched 144 innings, both of which were second on the team behind Mitch Keller who pitched 159 innings in 29 starts.

Friday afternoon you can watch the Philly broadcast on MLB.tv. You can also listen to the game on MLB.tv, as well as the Pirate Radio Network.