Astros Prospect Report: Joe Musgrove vs Tulsa Drillers
Musgrove is another guy acquired through trade by Astros GM Jeff Luhnow. He was brought over in the summer of 2012 in the 10 player deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Musgrove was a first round pick but bounced around rookie ball for three years before breaking out for the Astros in 2014 going 7-1 with a 2.81 ERA. He followed that up with an even better 2015 going 12-1 with a 1.88 ERA across three levels of play. He opened this season with five shutout innings for Corpus Christi on April 7th.
Let’s take a look at how Joe Musgrove performed last night against the Tulsa Drillers.
1st Inning:
Musgrove got things started off in the first by striking out the Drillers’ lead-off hitter. He mixed in his heater and got the lefty looking at a slider on the outside corner. The next hitter reached on an error. Next batter up hit a groundball double down the LF line putting runners at 2nd and 3rd. Musgrove struck out the next hitter on three pitches, freezing Verdugo with a slider catching the outside corner. Musgrove uncharacteristically walked the next hitter to load the bases. With the bases loaded he was able to bear down and strikeout the batter on a high fastball. Commentators noted his fastball at 94 MPH.
1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; 22 pitches/16 strikes
2nd Inning:
Musgrove made quick work in the second inning. The first batter lined out to second baseman Jack Mayfield. The next hitter up struck out on three pitches, swinging and missing on the slider. Musgrove struck out the next hitter with a high fastball. Easily his sharpest inning of the night.
1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; 11 pitches/9 strikes
3rd Inning:
Musgrove started out the inning by inducing a grounder to shortstop. Bregman made a nice backhanded play with a strong accurate throw to get the hitter at first. Next batter up grounded a ball weakly to second base for the second out. Musgorve then allowed back to back single with a single to left field and bloop single to center. He was able to settle down and get the next hitter to pop up to first base in foul terriroty for the third out.
1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; 18 pitches/12 strikes
4th Inning:
First hitter of the inning flew out to medium right field. The next hitter up was able to work a full count before striking out looking on a slider. Next batter up was also able to work a full count but ended up walking. It appeared Musgrove was getting squeezed a bit this inning. Musgrove responded by getting the next batter to hit a weak grounder back to the mound for the third out.
1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; 24 pitches/14 strikes
Overall:
Musgrove pounded the strike zone regularly, like we have come accustomed too. His slider was very sharp inducing many swings and misses and being able to spot it for called strikes. Fastball had a lot of life and was sitting in the mid 90s. The two guys he walked were close pitches and he was around the strike zone all night. Tulsa had a hard time even hitting the ball hard off of him. He primarily used his fastball and slider but did mix in his curveball as well. He was pulled after 75 pitches, which is typical given his second start of the season and the tandem rotation.
Final Line:
4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; 75 pitches/51 strikes
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The future is bright and go Astros!
**Photo Credit: Tammy Tucker**
