PITTSBURGH -- As the Pirates shuffled through starters and openers last season, hoping someone would step up and claim a spot, JT Brubaker waited. The right-hander almost certainly would have been called upon at some point last season, but Pittsburgh’s rotation was intact and effective last April, the only time Brubaker was healthy enough to pitch before he lost most of the year to a strained right forearm.

Brubaker isn’t necessarily fueled by frustration, although nobody would blame him for feeling that way. The Pirates used 14 starting pitchers in 2019, including a pair of openers (Montana DuRapau and Michael Feliz) and five others (Mitch Keller, Nick Kingham, James Marvel, Alex McRae and Rookie Davis) who ended the season with an ERA of 6.75 or higher.

But Pittsburgh never had the chance to call on Brubaker, the organization’s 2018 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, so he was determined to make the most of his opportunity no matter when it came.

“This year, just getting the opportunity, I want to just take full advantage of it,” Brubaker said on Tuesday. “Show that I can pitch up here."

Brubaker broke camp in the bullpen and pitched well in his first two appearances. When a spot in the rotation opened, the Pirates gave him the opportunity he was waiting for. His numbers may not jump off the page, but he has improved each time out. Last Thursday he earned his first Major League win by holding the Cubs to two runs (one earned) while striking out five over five innings.

“He continues to get better, and we continue to see him make strides going forward or getting better,” manager Derek Shelton said. “By doing that, it’s allowing us to have different teaching points in terms of his maturation.”

One of those points came in his previous outing. Rather than trying to spin nasty sliders into the other batter’s box, Brubaker realized that his arsenal -- especially his breaking balls -- is effective enough to get outs in the strike zone.

“Just understanding that his stuff plays in the zone is really going to make him take that next step,” pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “I think he showed it with the amount of traffic he had in the third inning against the Cubs and being able to get out of it. That was huge. The encouraging thing with our young guys like that is being able to get out of situations with traffic and understanding that they can get outs in zone and not just get chases.”

The Pirates will use the rest of this season to get a head start on shaping next year’s roster, evaluating players to determine what roles they might serve going forward. Brubaker, who will start on Wednesday night against the White Sox at PNC Park, could help solidify a role on the 2021 staff with a strong finish, but he’s more worried about his next start than the future.

"I'm still learning,” Brubaker said. “I'm just trying to take it one start and one outing at a time, just get better each time."

Around the horn

• Bryan Reynolds made his first start of the season in center field on Tuesday. Although he started 25 games there last season, the Pirates had only used him in left or as the designated hitter this season. Putting him in center allowed Shelton to keep Erik González at shortstop, shift Kevin Newman to second base and bump Adam Frazier into left field.

“I haven’t seen [Reynolds] out there yet. We saw him in Spring Training, wanted to take a look at it,” Shelton said. “It gets Newman and Frazier in the same lineup with Gonzo and [rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan] Hayes, but just trying something a little bit different.”

• Hayes has hit sixth or seventh in each of his six starts so far, as he was back in the seven-hole on Tuesday. Shelton said the lower spot in the lineup is one way the Pirates can avoid putting too much pressure on the 23-year-old as he begins his Major League career, but there’s a possibility he could move up the order, either temporarily or permanently.

“I think the most important thing right now is he continues to take good, aggressive swings, he continues to develop, he continues to work on what he’s doing,” Shelton said. “But we’re extremely pleased, with the small sample size, with what he’s done.”

• According to Statcast, right fielder Gregory Polanco entered Tuesday’s series opener with the highest whiff rate among the 334 hitters who have taken at least 100 swings this season. Polanco’s 47.9 percent swing-and-miss rate is also more than double his 22.2 percent rate from 2015-19.

• Over the last three seasons, the Pirates have won 15 games in which they trailed during or after the ninth inning, including Sunday’s 3-2 victory over the Reds at PNC Park. They are tied with the Dodgers and Rockies for the most such wins in the Majors since 2018, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.