Joe Musgrove set to make Pittsburgh Pirates debut

One of the players that the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired in their offseason trade with the Houston Astros will make his Spring Training debut for the Bucs on Thursday afternoon

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Gerrit Cole to the Houston Astros one of the players they acquired was right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove. With the Astros, Musgrove, a former top-100 prospect, worked as both a starting pitcher and a reliever. The Pirates, however, view him as a starting pitcher.

Due to shoulder fatigue, Joe Musgrove has yet to pitch in a game this spring. He has, however, thrown multiple bullpen sessions and pitched in simulated games. But at 1:05 this afternoon he will get his first real taste of baseball this spring.

Barring any other setbacks, Musgrove is set to open the 2018 season as the team’s fifth starting pitcher. Personally, I believe Musgrove is best suited to play a relief role similar to that of Chad Green of the Yankees. Hopefully, Musgrove will prove me wrong this season and help to stabilize the Pirate starting rotation.

Along with Musgrove, Felipe Rivero, Dovydas Neverasukas, Kyle Crick, and Kevin Siegrist are all scheduled to pitch against the Yankees today as well. The latter three are all competing for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. Odds are, Crick and Siegrist will each have a spot while Neverauskas will start the season at Triple-A, even though I’d like to see Neverauskas in the Majors and Crick at Triple-A.

Next: Analyzing the Pirates and their power problem

In 25 career starts Joe Musgrove owns a 5.37 ERA, 4.82 FIP, and opposing batters own a .506 slugging percentage and a .357 wOBA against him. As a reliever, however, he owns a 1.26 ERA, 2.37 FIP, and he has held opposing batters to a .294 slugging percentage and a .226 wOBA in 35 2/3 innings pitched. His strikeout rate also spikes from 7.56 K/9 as a starting pitcher to 9.84 K/9 as a relief pitcher.