OnlyBucs

Thought it was a bit late to comment on the thread for yesterday's game so I decided to start a new thread.



I know two starts is not a season or a career, but it sure has been refreshing to watch Musgrove pitch and play in his first 2 starts. Clearly, he has pitched well. He has gone deep into games and worked out of a nasty jam last night in the first. He doesn't appear to be intimidated by the opposition.



While I have loved his pitching, it has been even more fun to watch him run the bases. In his first game he scored all the way from first and busted his hump while running the bases. Last night he slide late and hard into second to break up a potential DP. What a contrast to watching Tallion barely leaving the batters box. It also appears that he knows how to lay down a bunt.



Earlier this year Hurdle used Kuhl as a pinch-runner. He barely stepped off first and was really challenged in trying to score when he had to run the bases. After watching Musgrove last night, my guess is that he, rather than Kuhl, will be the pitcher who serves as a pinch-runner in future games.



Musgrove may bomb in future games, but for now, he appears to be one of the best hopes that the starting pitching may get better.

Couldn’t agree more. I commented in the game thread, about his play at 2nd base: it was more than just a hard slide, he had to be busting his rearend and he had to understand the baseball play in process; is there even one other pitcher on the staff that would have even tried? Probably not.



Two starts, but he’s already a team favorite for me because of his attitude. I’m sure a million differences, but he looks to be the closest thing to AJ since AJ retired. He seems engaged in the entire game, not just the little world between the mound and home plate.

Speaking of Musgrove and his recent performances I got a big chuckle when I saw his twitter handle in the 2018 Media Guide I just got! It's #itsbuccnJoe59 I think that might explain his take no prisoners attitude between the lines.