Musgrove Could Follow Bregman’s Path

HOUSTON–Alex Bregman starred for the U.S. squad in July’s Futures Game and was on his way to the big leagues a couple weeks later.

His teammate Joe Musgrove could very well follow the same path.

Musgrove, the Astros pitching prospect who started the Futures Game in his home city of San Diego, has also put himself in position reach the majors before season’s end. The 23-year-old righthander is likely to garner at least a September call-up before competing for a spot in the Astros’ rotation next spring.

After earning a quick promotion to Triple-A Fresno in early May, he hit a three-start rough patch from late May to early June. Musgrove, who was the No. 46 pick in the 2011 draft, got himself back on track in his following two starts, allowing one run over six innings in one and two runs in five innings in the next. He needed only 11 pitches in a perfect first inning in the Futures Game, inducing three ground outs, and entered the second half with a 4.60 ERA in the Pacific Coast League.

“I got up to Triple-A and I went through my first struggle I’ve been through in a little while. But that’s part of baseball,” the 6-foot-5, 265 pound hurler said. “You’ve got to be able to accept those bad outings. You learn from them and you try to grow.”

On paper, Musgrove’s woeful three-start stretch may have been his worst in pro ball. He allowed six runs in consecutive outings and four in the other.

“You get banged around a little bit,” he said, “you’ve got to still trust your stuff and still throw your stuff in the zone. I think I might’ve gotten away from that a little bit.”

Even during his rough patch, Musgrove didn’t issue more than one walk in an outing. Incredibly, in his 45 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he had issued fewer walks (6) than home runs allowed (7).

And not too long from now, he should get his first chance to test his stuff at the highest level.

SPACE SHOTS

• Righthander David Paulino was close to returning to the mound with Double-A Corpus Christi. After serving a team suspension for violating team rules, he was briefly shut down because of arm soreness.

• Lefthander Brett Adcock, the Astros’ fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, had season-ending surgery on July 6 to repair the meniscus in his left knee.