Bubic Blanks the Brew Crew
The Royals left-hander turned in the rotation's first quality start of the season behind a dominant fastball
From the outset of Monday’s home opener for the Milwaukee Brewers, the feeling of disappointment was palpable. The crowd’s excitement was extinguished nearly as quickly as it crescendoed. Kansas City would soon avenge its own letdown of a home opener.
The Royals ripped off three runs in the top of the first against Elvin Rodriguez as Jonathan India and Bobby Witt Jr. set the table immediately with singles. Michael Massey slapped a ground-rule double over the left field wall and the much-maligned Hunter Renfroe drove in a pair with a two-out knock.
Then Kris Bubic toed the rubber.
The game was over.
Bubic enjoyed one of the best starts of his career with six innings of shutout work, striking out the side in the bottom of the first to set the tone for what was to come over the following five frames.
The southpaw’s final line — six innings, eight strikeouts, three hits allowed and two walks on 95 pitches — was a welcome sight for Kansas City, which saw the first three members of its rotation struggle in the season-opening series against the division rival Guardians.
There was some trepidation over the winter when the Royals informed Bubic he should be stretched out for camp and prepare as a starter. After returning from Tommy John surgery, he was so lethal for Kansas City out of the bullpen last year that he became a late-inning weapon for manager Matt Quatraro in the postseason. Why fix what isn’t broken?
Monday showed us.
Bubic flaunted a five-pitch mix headlined by his above-average four-seam fastball. Despite its relative lack of velocity at 93 MPH, it boasts borderline elite ride with 18-19 inches of induced vertical break, helping the pitch appear to “rise” as it approaches home plate — and it was an invisiball to Brewers hitters.
He blitzed Milwaukee with that high-ride heater over and over again, firing it 48 times at an average of 92.6 MPH with 60% of those offerings finding the zone. Despite its prevalence over the plate, the Brewers could do little more than wail away. The four-seamer earned 11 whiffs on 25 swings (44%). It caught the zone for another 11 called strikes, resulting in a 46% called strikes plus whiffs (CSW) rate, an elite mark.
Dealing from a 39-degree arm slot, Bubic tallied 15 whiffs in total, four shy of tying his single-game best. It resulted in those eight punchouts; his career-best is nine.
Suffice it to say, Bubic put on a show and clocked out with a career night.
With a fastball disappearing through the top of the zone, Bubic had little need for offspeed offerings, but his low- to mid-80s sweeper churned out a 105 tjStuff+ and grabbed a pair of whiffs. The bullet cutter/slider stole three called strikes and one swing-and-miss. His changeup — one of the prettiest pitches in the organization — mostly had the day off.
Even the contact he did allow was pillow soft. The Brewers mustered just a 77.8 MPH average exit velocity, which would be good for second among MLB starters so far this season, entering Monday’s games, behind just one man: second-year sensation Paul Skenes.
In fact, two of Milwaukee’s hits came on some of its softest contact. Add Garrett Mitchell’s and Joey Ortiz’s exit velocities together and you narrowly beat out Maikel Garcia’s team-high 108.8 MPH rocket over the center field wall.
There’ll come a day (likely soon) when Bubic will need more from his secondaries. But when you can fill up the zone with fastballs and still miss bats? No need to stray too far from the gas pedal.
It came at just the right time, too. The relative struggles of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha in their first turns through the rotation helped contribute to a 2-1 series loss to Cleveland.
It’s possible that hitting the road without the pressure of a home crowd on opening weekend is what spurred the Royals breakout.
Or perhaps they just needed a burgeoning Bubic to take the bump.
“Invisiball” made me audibly laugh. Bubic looked great!