Conversations with the Herd: Justin Bruihl

By: Brian Frank

Justin Bruihl grew up in Petaluma, California, starring on the mound at Casa Grande High School until an elbow injury his junior year caused his season to come to a premature end. A torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow required him to undergo Tommy John surgery. While it was a significant setback at the time, Bruihl now sees it as a bit of a turning point in his pitching career.

“I kind of joke about it, but I feel like it's probably one of the best things that's ever happened to me,” Bruihl said in a recent interview with The Herd Chronicles. “It forced me to really work hard, and also do the right things at the same time – because being that young, there were a lot of things I just didn't know about that side of baseball, like rehab, recovery, strength training, and stuff like that. Obviously, I worked out and stuff, but I feel like it wasn't the right things. Then that kind of just introduced me to those things that were going to help me get better.”

Bruihl came back to pitch during the second half of his senior year, before moving on to pitch one season at California Polytechnic State University, a school that has produced numerous big leaguers including Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. He then played a season at Santa Rosa Junior College for a season, where his career began to take off – he went 7-0 with a 2.12 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched.

“We made to the state championship game,” the lefty said of his best memory at Santa Rosa. “We lost in the last game of the year, unfortunately… I really enjoyed baseball there. A great group of guys and a really good team.”

Bruihl leads the Bisons in pitching appearances this season with 23. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

He committed to the University of California, Berkley to play the following season, but a series of unforeseen events led him to instead sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Talking with my agent and the coaches at Cal, they kind of convinced me, like, hey, come play for us,” he explained. “So, I told my agent, alright I want to go to school next year. We reached out to teams, let them know that I was going to go to school, so, it probably wasn't worth it to draft me. Then maybe three or four days after the draft, the head coach (David Esquer) and pitching coach (Tomas Eager) at Cal took jobs at Stanford. So, that kind of left me a little bit high and dry. I was like, okay, screw this, I kind of want to go play pro ball now, because the whole reason I went to Cal was for the pitching coach, Thomas Eager. He was at Cal Poly when I committed and left shortly after I committed there, so I never got to play for him. But that was the whole reason I went to Cal was to play for him. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. So, I reached out to my agent, like – what kind of free agent opportunities are out there? And then it was the Dodgers and maybe five or six other teams, but it just felt right going with the Dodgers.”

He quickly worked his way up through the Dodgers system and in 2021, just two years after signing his first professional contract, was making his major-league debut against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium. He entered the game with the Dodgers leading 8-2 in the eighth inning with runners at second and third and only one out.

“The legs were definitely a little bit shaky,” he recalled, “a little bit jello-like, but at the same time, just trying to compete and get hitters out. It was really fun.”

Bruihl struck out the first batter he faced in the big leagues, Brandon Marsh, on three pitches – but was a little surprised when he then heard a pinch-hitter being announced.

“My second batter, they a pinch-hit Shohei (Ohtani). I remember getting the ball back and I heard them announce his name, and I was like – What the heck are they doing? Why are they doing this? Left on left? But that was pretty cool. I walked him on like six or seven pitches. The pitching coach (Mark Prior) told me not to throw him a strike.” He continued with a chuckle, “I was like, ‘Okay.’”

He retired Jack Mayfield on a groundout to leave the bases loaded and end the inning. He then worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out Max Stassi to end the game and preserve a Dodgers victory.

“I'm glad I threw the ball really well that day,” he said. “It was nice to kind of have a good, clean one.”

Bruihl ended up pitching in 21 games for the Dodgers that season, posting a 2.89 ERA. He then made the team’s NLCS roster against the Atlanta Braves. Even though the Dodgers fell short in the series, losing in six games, Bruihl was exceptional. He pitched in three games, firing two innings, allowing only one hit, a harmless two-out single to Freddie Freeman, while recording five strikeouts without walking a batter.

“I got set up pretty nice,” he remembered. “I faced a bunch of lefties, so I had pretty opportune matchups for me. It was a pretty cool experience throwing in Atlanta, too. When a reliever comes in in between innings, they shut the lights off, and everybody turns their camera lights on. It's a really cool experience. So, just running into that, I was like, wow, this is awesome.”

Bruihl currently has a 3.76 ERA in 26 1/3 IP. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

He also pitched in the big leagues for the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates before signing with the Blue Jays organization this past offseason, bringing a veteran presence to the Bisons’ bullpen. The 27-year-old southpaw uses a four-pitch mix to flummox batters.

“I'm throwing a sinker, sweeper, cutter, and a splitter I've been working on recently,” he said. “The sinker’s been a little bit more horizontal this year, but still getting good depth. The sweeper’s probably my best pitch. It’s big, probably averaging like 18 horizontal this year. The cutter is kind of like my second fastball for the most part. Trying to throw it a little bit harder, a little bit shorter, something to get in on righties with. Then the splitter is new this year. I’m trying to work on it against righties for the most part. Trying to neutralize them a little bit. Just something else that'll change speeds and kind of look like my sinker, but a little bit slower.”

His sweeper/slider is a particularly devastating pitch, especially to left-handed batters.

“My slider has always been my best pitch,” he said. “I'd say when I was younger, it wasn't so much of a sweeper. Although I don't really think that pitch even existed back then, or at least they didn’t call it that, obviously. But over time, it was just kind of me tinkering with the grip a little bit, just slightly year in and year out. In 2021, the year I debuted, I decided to switch the grip to see what would happen, the first week of the season, and it started taking off to the right. I was like, okay, we're going to roll with that. Slowly, over time, I made some more adjustments to it, just seeing what other guys are kind of throwing around the league and what kind of grips they use. So, just kind of tinkering with that a little bit. I think now it's in a really good spot. I’m throwing it a little bit harder now this year too, so I think it's in a great spot.”

Whatever role Bisons manager Casey Candaele deploys him in, Bruihl’s game plan remains the same.

“Just be aggressive, attack hitters, get ahead early, and then put them away when I get to two strikes,” he said. “I think that's my main goal, no matter what.”