Justin Masterson

2013

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2012

Masterson built upon a strong second half from 2011 and enjoyed what was easily his best season to date. He faded a bit over his last dozen starts after a stretch of dominance in July as the career-high workload might have begun to take its toll. His strikeout rate has decreased in each of the last four seasons, but he's also showed great improvement in his control during that stretch and a 6.58 K/9IP rate is still solid given his high groundball rate (55 percent of batted balls). Masterson had surgery on the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder in October, but is expected to be 100 percent for spring training. He'll be back as the team's No. 2 starter behind Ubaldo Jimenez and should be able to repeat his success of a year ago if he maintains the improved control.

2011

Masterson had another disappointing season for the Tribe even though his control improved a bit (3.7 BB/9IP). It's still a concern and while the strikeout total is nice it's tough to swallow the WHIP and ERA damage. He did get better as the season wore on (1.320 WHIP, 3.84 ERA in the second half) and was dominant in seven September appearances (2.14 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, 19:2 K:BB in 21 innings as the team limited his workload) and he'll be back as the team's No. 2 starter.

2010

Masterson won just one of his 10 starts since coming over to the Indians in the Victor Martinez trade, posting a 1.587 WHIP and a 4.55 ERA. He'll need to work on his command (4.1 BB/9IP and a 1.87 K/BB career ratio in 217.2 major league innings) if he's going to take the next step but did manage to whiff 119 batters in 129.1 innings last season. He'll be counted on to hold down a spot at the top of the Indians' rotation in 2010.

2009

What to do with Masterson? He was a starting pitcher in the minors, but was needed to pitch out of the bullpen for Boston in the second half of the season. He was less effective when pitching out of the stretch and walked too many batters. He'll have to improve in those areas if he's going to remain as part of the set-up crew. If they use him as a starter, he'll need to work on being consistent in his delivery for longer stretches.

2008

Masterson was converted to a starter in 2007, after a successful stint as a reliever for Short Season Lowell in 2006. His out pitch is the sinker, and he's got good command of the zone, so there's hope that Masterson could still develop at least as a reliever. Masterson made big news because of his involvement in the Johan Santana trade talks. In the smaller market, Masterson's path to the majors might be quicker than with Boston. But either way, he could use more time at Double-A to develop his secondary pitches.