The Pittsburgh Pirates made a surprise move Friday, trading right-handed pitcher JT Brubaker and international bonus pool money to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later.
A 2015 sixth-round draft pick from Akron, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Brubaker avoided his second year of arbitration by signing for $2.275 million in January.
Brubaker, 30, was 9-28 with a 4.99 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 315 2/3 innings over 63 appearances (61 starts) in three seasons for the Pirates.
He led the Pirates with 147 strikeouts in 202, when he was 3-12 with a 4.69 ERA in 144 innings over 28 starts.
Last year, Brubaker was leading the Grapefruit League in strikeouts during spring training when he injured his right elbow, which required surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament.
Brubaker is on the 60-day injured list while rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2023 season. He is expected to return after the All-Star break.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.