Justin Masterson Needs To Be In The Bullpen

I remember back in 2008 using my lunch break to watch Justin Masterson’s major league debut against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Masterson was brilliant that day pitching six innings of two-hit baseball. However, watching Masterson pitch that day, the first thing that came into my head was this guy needs to be in the bullpen.

Now three years later I still believe the same thing.

Masterson needs to be in the bullpen

My rational for my thinking is that Masterson doesn’t feature enough pitches to be a successful major league starter. After giving up five runs and nine hits in four innings in a 7-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox last night, Masterson is now 0-5 with a 6.13 ERA for the Cleveland Indians.

If you look at Masterson’s breakdown of pitches thrown this year, he features a sinking fastball, which he throws around 80 percent of the time and a slider, which he throws around 17 percent of the time. He doesn’t feature a third pitch or at least another pitch to keep hitters honest.

I am sorry, but unless one of your pitches is on another planet like a Steve Carlton slider or a Dwight Gooden curveball, most starting pitchers can’t get away with just throwing two pitches. Even Nolan Ryan with his 100 mph fastball threw three pitches.

With Masterson’s three-quarter arm angle and propensity to throw groundballs, he would be an ideal relief pitcher. Plus as a reliever, you only need to have two pitches anyway since you are only facing hitters one time through the lineup.

For his career, Masterson has a 3.28 ERA as a reliever and a 4.77 ERA as a starter. I know the Indians are short on starting pitching, but they should do the right and smart thing and put Masterson in the bullpen where he belong.

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