Brubaker (oblique) agreed to a one-year contract with the Yankees on Friday to avoid arbitration.
Brubaker began the 2024 season sidelined while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was able to begin a rehab assignment in mid-June but that was halted by an oblique injury, and he was limited to only 16.2 innings across four levels of the minor leagues in 2024. Brubaker is expected to be healthy to begin the 2025 campaign.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Resumes rehab assignment
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow/oblique) resumed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, striking out one in a perfect inning.
Brubaker made his first appearance in more than two months, as his rehab from Tommy John surgery had to be paused due to an oblique strain. The 30-year-old could be activated from the 60-day injured list before the end of the regular season, though it's difficult to imagine him pitching in anything more than a mop-up role out of the Yankees bullpen.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Shut down for several weeks
Rotowire
Brubaker (oblique/elbow) will remain shut down from throwing for 3-to-4 weeks, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.
The Yankees pulled Brubaker off his rehab assignment Sunday after he suffered an oblique strain during his latest minor-league start, and the team confirmed Saturday that it will likely be nearly a month before he restarts his throwing program. He remains without a clear timeline for his return, though a better picture may emerge once he's cleared to throw again.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Shut down due to oblique injury
Rotowire
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Sunday that Brubaker (elbow) suffered an oblique strain during his most recent rehab start Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and and has been shut down from baseball activities, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
Brubaker appeared to be close to completing his recovery from October 2022 Tommy John surgery, as he had been expected to come off the 60-day injured list before the end of July. It's not yet clear how far back the oblique issue will set his return timeline, but it's now doubtful that the right-hander will be able to join the Yankees before the end of the month. Brubaker had taken part in five minor-league rehab appearances prior to injuring his oblique, posting a 3.29 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 7:8 K:BB over 13.2 innings.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Continuing rehab at Triple-A
Rotowire
The Yankees transferred Brubaker's (elbow) rehab assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.
Brubaker made one appearance with Double-A Somerset and will continue his rehab at Triple-A. The 30-year-old has been recovering from Tommy John surgery since April of 2023 and is approaching a return to big-league action. It's unclear how many outings Brubaker will need at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but it's likely he'll be back sometime in July.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Rehab moved to Double-A
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow) had his rehab assignment transferred from the Florida Complex League to Double-A Somerset on Sunday. He pitched three shutout innings for Somerset, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three batters.
This was Brubaker's third outing of his rehab assignment -- he previously pitched one game for Single-A Tampa and one game for the FCL Yankees. The right-hander looked good Sunday, throwing 30 of 47 pitches for strikes and yielding just one hit (a double). Brubaker appears to be building up his workload to take on a starting role, and he'll likely need a few more rehab outings before he's ready to be activated off the injured list. Once that happens, he may be optioned to Triple-A if there isn't a spot open in the big club's rotation.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Goes three scoreless in rehab start
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow) tossed three scoreless innings and struck out two in his first rehab start Wednesday with Single-A Tampa Bay. He gave up two hits and no walks.
Making his first appearance in affiliated ball since October 2022 following a prolonged recovery from Tommy John surgery, Brubaker exhibited few signs of rust Wednesday, albeit while matching up against a lineup of lower-level Cardinals prospects. Given that Brubaker handled three innings and 22 pitches in the rehab start, the Yankees are seemingly preparing to build him up as a rotation option once he returns from the 60-day injured list. At the moment, the Yankees don't have an opening in the rotation, and if little changes on that front over the next few weeks, Brubaker will likely be optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after he completes his rehab assignment.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Starting rehab assignment
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Tampa on Wednesday, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
The 30-year-old is finally ready for game action after a long rehab from Tommy John surgery. Brubaker will be an option for the Yankees' rotation sometime after the All-Star break, but it seems likely he'll be optioned to the minors initially once he's off the 60-day injured list.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Approaching rehab assignment
Rotowire
Yankees manager Aaron Boone stated early this week that Brubaker (elbow) is "getting ready to go out on an assignment," per MLB.com.
Brubaker is over 14 months removed from Tommy John surgery and has been throwing to live hitters for about five weeks. The 30-year-old hasn't pitched in a game since the 2022 season, so he'll presumably need a rehab assignment consisting of several starts. Brubaker could be ready to join the big-league club around the All-Star break, but given the success of the team's starting staff thus far and the impending return of Gerrit Cole (elbow), there doesn't appear to be room in the rotation for Brubaker at the moment.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Completes another live session
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow) threw two simulated innings at extended spring training Saturday, the Associated Press reports.
Brubaker is hopeful to return from the 60-day injured list around the All-Star break as he continues to make strides in his recovery from his April 12, 2023 Tommy John surgery. He already has multiple live sessions under his belt and could soon begin an extended minor-league rehab assignment within the next couple of weeks. Brubaker posted a 4.69 ERA over 144 innings in his last healthy season with the Pirates in 2022, but the Yankees are likely viewing him as more of an insurance policy in the rotation rather than counting on him to make starts for the big club once he's activated.
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Yankees' JT Brubaker: Traded to Yankees
Rotowire
The Yankees acquired Brubaker (elbow) and international signing bonus money from the Pirates on Friday in exchange for a player to be named later.
Brubaker is in the midst of recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he could be an option for the Yankees' staff around the All-Star break. The right-hander is also under team control for next season. Brubaker holds a career 4.99 ERA over 315.2 innings at the major-league level, but he's been above average in terms of strikeout rate (23.3 percent) and walk rate (7.9 percent).
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Lands on 60-day IL
Rotowire
The Pirates placed Brubaker (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Monday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.
The transaction frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for Canaan Smith-Njigba, who is back with his original organization. Brubaker is slated to be sidelined until around midseason as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Avoids arbitration with Pirates
Rotowire
The Pirates and Brubaker (elbow) avoided arbitration Wednesday by agreeing to a one-year, $2.275 million contract, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
Brubaker will receive the same salary that he got in 2023 after missing the entire season following Tommy John surgery. The goal is for Brubaker to make it back sometime around the All-Star break. He holds a career 3.99 ERA and 324:109 K:BB over 315.2 innings over parts of three seasons at the major-league level.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Gets Tommy John surgery
Rotowire
The Pirates announced that Brubaker (elbow) underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery Wednesday.
Brubaker showed promising swing-and-miss stuff in the Grapefruit League this spring, but he went down with forearm/elbow discomfort just as he was set to break camp as a member of the Pirates' starting rotation. With Pittsburgh estimating that the 29-year-old right-hander will be sidelined for the next 14-to-16 months following surgery, he can be safely ruled out until sometime near the middle of the 2024 season.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Update on status coming soon
Rotowire
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday that there will be more clarity on the status of Brubaker (elbow) at some point this week, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Brubaker is currently on the 60-day injured list with elbow and forearm discomfort, and there's been speculation that the right-hander could require Tommy John surgery. Even if he doesn't undergo the procedure, it's unlikely that Brubaker will be pitching for the Pirates until deep into the summer at the earliest.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Tommy John surgery possible
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow) could require season-ending Tommy John surgery, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Brubaker was transferred to the 60-day injured list Sunday, and while the Pirates are labeling his injury as right elbow/forearm discomfort at this time, Mackey relays that Tommy John surgery "is one of the options being considered." Even if the right-hander opts to treat his injury through rest and rehab, he's clearly going to be on the shelf for quite some time. Johan Oviedo has assumed Brubaker's spot in the Pirates' rotation.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Moves to 60-day IL
Rotowire
Brubaker (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day injured list Sunday.
The right-hander is dealing with elbow inflammation and is potentially facing season-ending surgery, so the move to the 60-day IL isn't a major surprise. Brubaker won't be eligible to return during the first two months of the campaign, and at this point it's unclear if he'll be able to pitch at all this season.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Placed on 15-day IL
Rotowire
The Pirates placed Brubaker (elbow) on the 15-day injured list Thursday.
Brubaker could be facing season-ending surgery for a right elbow injury that he suffered at the tail end of spring training. He had been ticketed for a spot in the Pirates' starting rotation to open the 2023 campaign, but his injury paves the way for Johan Oviedo to enter the season as the No. 5 starter.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: IL stint confirmed
Rotowire
Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed Wednesday that Brubaker will open the season on the 15-day injured list while the right-hander recovers from elbow inflammation, Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
Look for the Pirates to make the transaction official shortly before Thursday's season opener in Cincinnati. Shelton didn't offer up a timeline for Brubaker's return, and until he's cleared to resume throwing again, the Pirates likely won't provide a target date for the 29-year-old to make his 2023 debut. Johan Oviedo is expected to take Brubaker's spot in the Bucs' season-opening rotation.
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Pirates' JT Brubaker: Headed for IL with forearm issue
Rotowire
Brubaker was scratched from his scheduled Grapefruit League start Monday against the Twins and is expected to open the season on the 15-day injured list while he deals with forearm/elbow discomfort, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
The Pirates may send Brubaker in for an MRI in the coming days to get a full scope of his injury, but any elbow-related issue for a pitcher is usually a precursor to an IL stint beyond the minimum 15 days. Until Brubaker gets more tests, however, the Pirates are unlikely to offer up a precise timeline for his return. With Brubaker set to open the season on the shelf, Pittsburgh will likely turn to Johan Oviedo to fill the final spot in its rotation.
