BRADENTON, Fla. — Joe Musgrove, one of four players acquired from the Astros for Gerrit Cole, was not among the Pirates' pitchers to throw live batting practice Sunday morning at Pirate City.
Musgrove, who is expected to be a member of the Pirates' starting rotation on opening day, had his bullpen session cut short and sources told DKPittsburghSports.com Mugrove was evaluated by the team's medical staff following the workout.
The Pirates confirmed Monday that Musgrove experienced right shoulder discomfort, and he will continue to be evaluated.
"It's nothing more than that," Musgrove said Monday morning. "It's nothing serious. It being February 19 we discussed coming into camp that if there was anything that didn't feel right or normal out of the gate, with me playing later in the year last [season] and that being my first experience playing that late. That was also my first time going through an offseason that short and trying to gauge when to get fired back up again and how to go about the rest process."
Musgrove, 25, landed on the disabled list last May because of right shoulder discomfort, but he was activated only 13 days later and made 28 more appearances for the Astros the rest of the season.
Although he's penciled in as a member of the rotation, Musgrove has struggled in that role since making his major league debut in August 2016.
In 25 career starts, Musgrove has a 5.37 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a .845 OPS against. Musgrove earned a spot in the Astros’ rotation out of spring training last season, but he had that spot taken away last July after only 15 starts — he recorded a 6.12 ERA in 78 innings.
Musgrove was first demoted to the minor leagues before lobbying Astros manager A.J. Hinch for a spot in the bullpen. It helped resurrect his season. He had a 1.44 ERA in 33 1/3 innings as a reliever during the regular season, handling high-leverage situations by mostly working the seventh or eighth inning.
"This was nothing more than a little precautionary rest," Musgrove said.
