Joe Musgrove News

Joe Musgrove

26-Year-Old PitcherSP

Pittsburgh Pirates

2019 Stats

W-L

6-8

ERA

4.31

WHIP

1.23

Rest-of-Season Projections

W-L

ERA

WHIP

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2019 Fantasy Outlook

Musgrove was limited by injuries but performed at a high level between DL stints, creating some excitement heading into 2019. After turning the page on a shoulder issue, Musgrove made his Pirates debut May 20 and blanked the Cardinals over seven innings. A finger infection sidelined Musgrove again in July, but he returned to post an even 1.0 BB/9 in 62.1 innings after the break, lowering his walk rate to just 4.7% for the season. His 20.6 K% was underwhelming, though an 11.4% swinging-strike rate and an excellent 68.3% first-pitch-strike rate hint at room for growth in that department. The Pirates were forced to shut Musgrove down early and sent him for surgery to repair his right abdominal wall and to heal a stress reaction in his pelvic bone, but he was expected to have a relatively normal offseason. There's no doubt that Musgrove will have a rotation spot when healthy. The command is there for him to take his performance to the next level. Read Past Outlooks

RANKSFrom Preseason

#209

ADP

Overall

Starting Pitcher

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League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'5"

Weight 255

DOB 12/4/1992

Drafted 2011

Start moved to Saturday

PPittsburgh Pirates

July 19, 2019

Musgrove will start Saturday's game against Philadelphia.

ANALYSIS
Trevor Williams was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday due to flu-like symptoms, so Musgrove will move up a day. The right-hander will aim to bounce back after surrendering five runs over 4.2 innings during his last start against the Cardinals on Monday.

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Pitching Stats

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Minor League Game Log

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Left/Right Pitching Splits

Since 2017

-12%

BAA vs RHP

2019

-24%

BAA vs RHP

2018

-16%

BAA vs RHP

2017

-6%

BAA vs LHP

	BAA	Batters	K	BB	H	2B	3B	HR
Since 2017vs Left	.278	638	127	32	163	38	8	17
Since 2017vs Right	.246	750	161	45	169	36	1	24
2019vs Left	.289	202	33	7	55	18	3	4
2019vs Right	.219	238	57	19	47	15	0	7
2018vs Left	.277	223	38	13	56	12	2	6
2018vs Right	.233	263	62	10	57	7	1	6
2017vs Left	.268	213	56	12	52	8	3	7
2017vs Right	.285	249	42	16	65	14	0	11
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Pitching Splits

Since 2017

-3%

ERA on Road

2019

-13%

ERA on Road

2018

-8%

ERA on Road

2017

-12%

ERA at Home

	ERA	WHIP	IP	W	L	SV	K/9	BB/9	HR/9
Since 2017Home	4.43	1.28	182.2	10	15	2	8.2	2.3	1.4
Since 2017Away	4.31	1.20	146.1	9	10	0	7.4	1.8	0.8
2019Home	4.62	1.18	50.2	3	3	0	7.8	1.6	1.6
2019Away	4.02	1.27	53.2	3	5	0	7.7	2.9	0.3
2018Home	4.21	1.27	66.1	4	5	0	8.1	2.2	0.9
2018Away	3.86	1.06	49.0	2	4	0	7.3	1.3	0.9
2017Home	4.52	1.36	65.2	3	7	2	8.6	3.0	1.6
2017Away	5.15	1.28	43.2	4	1	0	7.2	1.2	1.2
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Stat Review

How does Joe Musgrove compare to other starting pitchers?

This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against this season's data (min 70 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

K/BB

3.46

K/9

7.8

BB/9

2.2

HR/9

0.9

Fastball

91.9 mph

ERA

4.31

WHIP

1.23

BABIP

.308

GB/FB

1.39

Left On Base

62.2%

Exit Velocity

89.3 mph

Barrels/BBE

6.3%

Spin Rate

2375 rpm

Balls Hit 95+ MPH

39.6%

Swinging Strike

11.7%

Advanced Pitching Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Stats Vs Today's Lineup

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2018

2017

2016

For some, it is a tale of two halves. For Musgrove, it was a tale of two roles. As a starter, Musgrove posted a 6.12 ERA with a 1.51 WHIP. After being demoted to the bullpen, he registered a sparkling 1.44 ERA with a stingy 0.86 WHIP. Sometimes, this is just happenstance, with regression occurring after the role change, not because of it. However, in this instance, Musgrove increased the use of his fastball (adding three mph), slider and cutter while barely throwing his sinker and curveball. The results were astounding, as Musgrove's swinging-strike rate gained three percentage points, while his walks and homers dropped significantly. Focusing on homers, as a starter, Musgrove surrendered 16 in just 78 innings compared to only two in 31.1 frames out of the bullpen. Just when it seemed he was poised to become one of the useful non-closer fantasy relievers in the Chris Devenski or Chad Green mold, Musgrove was dealt to the Pirates as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. He will return to starting in Pittsburgh, and more growing pains should be expected.

Musgrove excelled at the upper levels of the minor leagues in 2016, earning a look in the Astros' rotation over the final two months. Aside from one eight-run blowup at Baltimore, Musgrove was mostly impressive as he was able to maintain a good walk rate against more advance hitters while continuing to miss bats at a strong clip. His 4.23 FIP suggests he may have overachieved slightly in the ratio categories, but command and control give Musgrove a nice floor as he enters his age-24 season and continues along the major-league learning curve. The Astros' signing of Charlie Morton and a potential role change for Chris Devenski cloud Musgrove's status somewhat, but there are health concerns at the top of the rotation, and Musgrove should serve as the top fill-in if he misses out on a rotation spot out of camp. He's more than an AL-only consideration.

Musgrove, Toronto's first pick in the compensation round of the 2011 draft (46th overall), was acquired by the Astros in 2012 and has spent the past four years in the lower levels of their minor league system. His stock has finally started to rise, however, as he opened 2015 with Low-A Quad Cities and finished the year at Double-A Corpus Christi. Between three levels last season, he appeared In 19 games (14 starts) and went 12-1 with a 1.88 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 99:8 K:BB ratio over 100.2 innings. The 23-year-old right-hander sports a mid-to-low 90s fastball, plus slider and plus-plus command, but his future as a big league starter or reliever is unclear. He's likely to return to Corpus Christi or open 2016 with Triple-A Fresno.

More Fantasy News

Falls to 6-8

PPittsburgh Pirates

July 15, 2019

Musgrove (6-8) took the loss against the Cardinals on Monday, giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits over 4.2 innings, striking out seven and walking three as the Pirates fell 7-0.