Perrotto: Potential Terrible News for One Who Deserves Better (+)

JT Brubaker was never considered a hot commodity as he came up through the Pittsburgh Pirates’ farm system.

Few of the outlets and analysts who rank prospects ever put the right-hander in the Pirates’ top 10. Those who did think Brubaker could pitch in the major leagues envisioned him as a relief pitcher, a role where he could rely heavily on throwing his slider. The pundits didn’t think he had a deep enough arsenal of pitches to be a starter.

However, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington always sung Brubaker’s praises and believed he would outpitch his pedigree of being a sixth-round draft pick from the University of Akron in 2015.

“Jonathan Brubaker knows how to pitch,” Huntington often said.