Modesto Nuts’ left-hander Musgrave earns promotion to Double-A New Britain of Eastern League

The old baseball adage says that hitting is about timing, while pitching is about upsetting timing.

Apparently, Harrison Musgrave subscribes to that theory.

Just as The Modesto Bee was planning a feature story on Musgrave’s quest for the franchise record for victories in a season (15), he goes and upsets the newspaper’s timing by earning a promotion to Double A New Britain, Conn., just days before publication.

The nerve of that guy!

During his three months in Modesto, Musgrave was 10-1 with a 2.88 ERA, a WHIP of 1.103 and strikeout/walk ratio of 4.37. He hasn’t lost since his first start of the season on April 12, when he gave up four runs – only one earned – on six hits in 41/3 innings.

“I’m not really too nervous,” Musgrave said of heading to the Eastern League. “It’s really cool, but if you start getting nervous, you get in your own way and that’s never a good thing.”

Watch Musgrave pitch and very quickly you’ll know that he seldom gets rattled. In fact, it often appeared he rather be doing anything else on earth than pitching.

“I take a lot of crap for that,” said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound left-hander who attended West Virginia, where he went 9-1 record with a 2.17 ERA and was named the 2013 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year just two seasons after Tommy John surgery. “My college coach (Randy Mazey) always wanted more out of me, but it takes a lot to get me excited. My personality is relaxed and it appears that I don’t care. Obviously, the coaches know I care.”

Nuts pitching coach Brandon Emanuel agrees with Musgrave’s self-evaluation.

“That’s who he is, he never gets too high or too low,” said Emanuel, a second-round draft pick of the Angels in 1998. “He’ll need to continue to develop his breaking ball if he’s going to stay in that starting role.”

Musgrave, who throws a fastball that tops out at around 93-94, along with a curve, slider and change-up, got his last win in Modesto on July 1, when he allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out eight in seven innings. In the stands that night was Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort, VP and General Manager Jeff Bridich, and Senior Director of Player Development Zach Wilson.

Nice timing.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Modesto Nuts’ left-hander Musgrave earns promotion to Double-A New Britain of Eastern League."