Travis MacGregor

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2016
R:  1-1-0, 3.13 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 31.2 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 5.4 K/9

MacGregor had a solid debut, making nine starts and showing good control.  Eight of the twelve runs he allowed came in two starts.

2017
R+:  1-4-0, 7.84 ERA, 1.96 WHIP, 41.1 IP, 4.4 BB/9, 7.0 K/9

MacGregor had a rough time at Bristol.  Opponents teed off on him for a 339/413/444 line.  The damage came mainly toward the end of the season; his monthly opponents’ OPS was:

June:  .516
July:  .668
August:  1.393

He also had some control issues, but they were mainly in August as well.  In July he walked eight in 23.1 IP.  In August he walked the same number in nine innings.

2018
R:  0-0-0, 2.57 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 7.0 IP, 1.3 BB/9, 7.7 K/9
A:  1-4-0, 3.25 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 63.2 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 10.5 K/9

Despite his 2017 struggles, the Pirates moved MacGregor up to West Virginia.  He was a very different pitcher, possibly due to the addition of a slider, and his velocity increased to the mid-90s.  His K rate increased by 50% and opponents batted only .237 against him.  The improvement was probably due more to the improved fastball than the slider, which still needs work.  MacGregor had a reverse platoon split, with left-handed hitters posting a .639 OPS and right-handed hitters .724.  He had some injury issues.  He missed over a month starting in mid-May due to a deltoid muscle injury, then missed the last couple months of the season with forearm soreness.  That, unfortunately, led to Tommy John surgery.

2019
INJURED

MacGregor missed the entire season.

2020
DNP

MacGregor would have been healthy for 2020, but there wasn’t a season.

2021
AA:  4-9-0, 6.25 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 90.2 IP, 4.1 BB/9, 8.8 K/9

MacGregor pitched in the Altoona rotation all season.  On the plus side, he stayed healthy.  He started off well, with a 2.63 ERA in four May starts.  He had a little more trouble in June, then had ERAs of 8.57 and 11.88 in July and August.  He rebounded to pitch well in September.  Both walks and home runs were problems during the bad stretch.

2022
AA:  4-1-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 45.0 IP, 4.4 BB/9, 12.0 K/9
AAA:  2-3-0, 7.25 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 36.0 IP, 6.8 BB/9, 10.8 K/9

MacGregor got battered in three starts for Altoona to open the season and the Pirates moved him to the bullpen.  They seemed to have found a solution, as he put up a 2.40 ERA in 11 relief appearances, most of them 2-5 innings.  His ERA in starts was 8.37.  In late June, MacGregor moved up to Indianapolis.  That didn’t go well, as MacGregor struggled to throw strikes and got hammered as well.

MacGregor is eligible for minor league free agency.  It’s conceivable the Pirates could try to turn a deal to bring him back in 2023.