Musgrove, Morton set for rotation returns

ATLANTA — The Astros are ready to welcome back a pair of starting pitchers in the next few nights as Joe Musgrove and Charlie Morton make their return to the rotation.

Musgrove will start Wednesday’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves, and Morton will start Friday in the second of a fourgame series at Toronto.

Morton’s start at Rogers Centre will be his first in six weeks for the Astros. After being sidelined by a strained right lat, he should be able to provide the Astros up to about 90 pitches in his first start off the disabled list. The 6-5 righthander built his pitch count up to 74 Sunday in the last of his three minor league rehab starts, though he completed only 41⁄3 innings.

“My lat feels real good,” he said Tuesday.

Before his injury, Morton had a 4.06 ERA in 10 starts. He struck out 10.1 batters per nine innings but completed at least six innings in only four outings.

As for Musgrove, his stay at Class AAA Fresno was brief. After he is recalled Wednesday, he will fill the rotation spot vacated by David Paulino, who is serving an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. Musgrove made only one start for Fresno after his demotion but dominated over seven scoreless innings.

Musgrove’s ERA inflated to 6.01 in 13 starts with the Astros this season. Because his AAA start came Thursday, he will start with an extra day’s rest Wednesday.

“When we sent him down, we originally planned on considering bringing him back up either as a starter or a reliever for the rest of the first half,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Then as it turned out, we needed the starter. (It was an) easy decision to get him back.

“He only got to have one start down there, so I’m not sure physically how different he’ll feel. Mentally, I think he got a break and was able to have a good game, walk away from a start feeling pretty good about himself. He was one of our best five when we started the season. So I could easily see him bouncing back.”