RADIO
Joe Musgrove 2020 Outlook Pitch Mix Change Will Equal Success
Joe Musgrove had a disappointing 2019 season. In 31 starts, he finished with a 21.9 K% and 4.44 ERA. When you look under the hood, you can see that better times are ahead. His 4.44 ERA came with a 3.82 FIP, thus indicating his ERA should have been better. Most of all, you can’t help but love Musgrove’s arsenal. Musgrove’s slider produced a 41.7 O-Swing%, 37.4 Zone%, and 19.5 SwStr% making it one of the better pitches in the league. While his slider was great, his curveball, cutter, and changeup were very serviceable. The main issue was his fastball (-12.1 pVAL), which unfortunately he threw more than any other pitch. He threw his fastball 37.5% of the time while his slider was thrown 22.2% of the time. With the new pitching staff in Pittsburgh, hopefully, they will let him increase his slider usage. It would be great to see more of a 30/30 split with the fastball and slider. Watch him in spring training to see if he throws the slider more. If he does, he could become a completely different pitcher. While Musgrove might not give you a lot of strikeouts, he should provide great ratios. Musgrove should be seen as a great value pick at his current ADP of 211.
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