Poor start leads to Musgrove’s demotion
Righthander earns trip to Class AAA Fresno after nine-run outing bumps ERA to 6.01
SEATTLE — A day after his ERA inflated to 6.01, Joe Musgrove packed his bags for Fresno, Calif.
The Astros demoted the struggling starter to Class AAA on Saturday. His departure served as the corresponding roster move for the activation of Lance McCullers Jr., who made his first start since June 8 on Saturday night against Seattle.
The team’s decision to option Musgrove came a day after the Mariners lit up the 24-year-old righthander for nine runs over 32⁄3 innings. Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Musgrove probably will start his first game with the Fresno affiliate on Thursday. Musgrove isn’t eligible to return to the majors until July 4, though whether he returns that quickly depends on his progress.
“It’s a tough pill for him to swallow because he was in our rotation, and we were excited to get him back off the (disabled list earlier this month),” Hinch said. “But he hasn’t produced to the level in which he needs to in order to be successful. He needs at least one or two outings in the minor leagues before we assess him coming back.”
Musgrove allowed 82 hits in 671⁄3 innings over 13 starts with the Astros this season.
“We’ve got to get him back to executing the way that he does when he’s successful,” Hinch said. “He’s had a hard time executing his pitches, especially late in the count, and he’s had some big innings implode on him in the outings in which he’s struggled.” Mechanics in need of fixing
Musgrove’s struggles seem to stem from mechanical issues. He battled delivery inconsistencies earlier in the season.
“I think that’s what we’re going to try to find out,” Hinch said. “He’s throwing a ton of strikes. It’s not throwing the quality of strikes that’s needed to finish hitters at this level. Filling up the strike zone is important. You need to be a strike thrower. He is a strike thrower. Executing the game plan and the pitches in the heat of the moment is the most critical thing. He’s been burned by the big hit and by the big inning.”
Hinch notified Musgrove of his demotion in a meeting with pitching coach Brent Strom upon their arrival to Safeco Field on Saturday. The pitcher took the news professionally, Hinch said. Musgrove had long left Safeco Field by the time the clubhouse opened to members of the media a few hours later. Dubious distinction
In the Astros’ 13-3 loss the night before, Musgrove became the club’s first pitcher to allow nine earned runs and last fewer than four innings since Bud Norris on May 31, 2012 at Colorado’s Coors Field. The start was Musgrove’s third since he missed two turns because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder. He allowed five runs in 52⁄3 innings against Boston on June 18.
Friday’s second inning portended an off night but not the nightmarish one that loomed. Musgrove allowed a run on two singles and a Jarrod Dyson double but stranded a runner on third with a strikeout followed by a groundout.
In the third, Musgrove yielded singles to four of the first six batters he faced. He also hit Kyle Seager with an errant fastball. With two outs came the big swing, a three-run blast by Mike Zunino to left-center field on a first-pitch fastball over the plate. The six-run inning put the Mariners ahead, 7-1.
Hinch sent Musgrove back out for the fourth inning of a 7-2 game, and Ben Gamel and Seager each tagged the pitcher for solo homers. It took a subsequent walk and a single before Hinch replaced Musgrove, who threw 87 pitches, with just-recalled lefthander Reymin Guduan.
“I would get them to two strikes, and I feel like every time I made a good, two-strike away pitch they laid off it like they knew it was coming, and then I made too many mistakes in the zone,” Musgrove said Friday. “I let them get back into even counts, and I don’t want to walk them so I tried to challenge them and they seemed to put the ball in play every time I put it in there.”