Musgrove working out kinks
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The pinpoint command Joe Musgrove typically exhibits has been lacking in his first three starts of the season, but the Astros’ 24-year-old righthander thinks he has found a fix via a minor mechanical adjustment in his delivery.
Musgrove has been working with Astros pitching coach Brent Strom on a more balanced stance out the set position when pitching out of the stretch. While still maintaining a simple and repeatable delivery, the hope is that the tweak will alleviate stress on Musgrove’s right hip, which he has had issues with in the past.
“I’m just trying to go for a more balanced standpoint out of the set opposed to like a pre-load on my back hip,” he said. “That back load is kind of causing my hip to take an awkward route toward the plate, and I think an even stance out of the stretch will give me a more direct line and just take a little extra pressure off.”
Musgrove said in his last couple starts he has been “fighting myself to get my leg to come through freely and swing through.”
“I feel like we’ve pinpointed it down to that start point (out of the set) as kind of being the initial cause of it all,” he said. “I’m hoping to have a freer follow through, which is allowing me to locate pitches better. I’ve been missing pitches a lot lately. (With) a freer finish with my back side and me not having to think about trying to pull my hip through, it’s going to be hopefully a lot smoother and cleaner.”
Musgrove was born with hip dysplasia, and since it first acted up late in the 2015 season it’s something he’s always monitoring. He didn’t encounter hip issues last season, but they started to creep back a bit during spring training. The idea is this slight mechanical adjustment also will help prevent further problems.
“It’s something that can be monitored and maintained. You just have to constantly stay on it,” he said. “Whether that means changing up the delivery a little bit or whatever just to allow a little more freedom, that’s what I’m going to try and do.”
Musgrove has a 5.87 ERA through three starts and has yet to complete more than 51⁄3 innings. He next pitches Sunday in the Astros’ series finale against Tampa Bay.
Pruitt enjoying taste of majors
In the same week he earned his first major league win, The Woodlands native and Tampa Bay reliever Austin Pruitt might also experience pitching against his hometown team.
“It’s the team that I grew up watching ever since I was a little kid,” Pruitt, 27, said before Friday night’s Astros-Rays series opener at Tropicana Field. “It’s pretty cool.”
Pruitt, an alumnus of College Park High School and the University of Houston, is in only his third week as a major leaguer after making his first opening-day roster. The 5-11 righthander and former ninth-round draft pick has mostly struggled in the early going — he has allowed 10 earned runs in nine innings over his seven appearances — but Wednesday earned his first win by pitching 31⁄3 scoreless frames against the Tigers.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said. “The first few appearances just obviously didn’t really go the way I wanted to. And then the last one that I just had, it all worked out.”
Pruitt was on the receiving end of a beer shower from his teammates after Wednesday’s 8-7 Rays’ win.
“Afterward, I couldn’t stop smiling,” he said. “It was really cool.”
Odds and ends
Chris Devenski’s save Thursday was the first in the majors of seven or more outs with a lead of three runs or fewer since then-Rays lefthander Drew Smyly converted a four-inning save against the Yankees on April 5, 2013. Devenski’s 16.88 strikeouts per nine innings is by far the best in the majors among all pitchers who have logged at least 10 innings this season. (Devenski has 131⁄3 innings.) The nextbest mark coming into Friday was Boston’s Drew Pomeranz (13.94), who had logged 101⁄3 innings. …
Astros play-by-play television broadcaster Todd Kalas was honored by the Rays with a video tribute after the second inning of Friday’s game. Kalas spent the previous 19 seasons working on their broadcast team. Friday marked his first visit to Tropicana Field since the Astros hired him in December. …
Outfielder Preston Tucker is off to a hot start in Class AAA Fresno. He came into Friday batting .375 with a .955 OPS. … Righthander Franklin Perez, one of the Astros’ best pitching prospects and the 54th-best prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America, has allowed only three hits over 141⁄3 scoreless innings with Class A Buies Creek.