The Pittsburgh Pirates announced that right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove won’t make his last two starts due to right side abdominal discomfort. Nick Kingham will be starting in his place tomorrow. Musgrove finishes with a 4.06 ERA in 115.1 innings over 19 starts, with 100 strikeouts and a 1.18 WHIP.
Effective today, Joe Musgrove will no longer pitch during the 2018 season due to right side abdominal discomfort.
RHP Nick Kingham will start in place of Musgrove tomorrow afternoon against the Brewers.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 23, 2018
Obviously it’s not a big deal that Musgrove is missing his final two starts of the season, especially since it sounds like a minor issue. It’s actually a good chance for Kingham to get some innings, including possibly two starts, because he is out of options going into next year and the more experience he has going into 2019, the better. Kingham has only pitched ten innings total since returning to the Pirates in late August, so he wasn’t looking at much work over the final five weeks of the season until this spot opened. You don’t want to see someone get hurt, but when you factor in the timing, the minor injury and what it allows, it’s definitely not the worst scenario playing out.
