Prospect Watch: Travis MacGregor Looking to Battle Back After Injuries
It only takes an instant for plans to change, especially with everything going on in this day and age. Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League pitcher Travis MacGregor was one of four pitchers in the Pirates Minor League system battling his way back from Tommy John Surgery. It would be a little harder for MacGregor, seeing as he has no Major League experience, but he had been pitching well prior to the injury and was looking to get back on track in 2020. Then, the Minor League baseball season was shut down by the Coronavirus leaving several players across the country without a field to go on. MacGregor is doing the best with what he has got at his house, but 2021 could be a big season for the right-handed prospect.
He missed all of last season due to the surgery after having the operation done in September of 2018. That was his last full season of baseball when he pitched for the Class Low-A West Virginia Power. He was dealing with elbow problems all year that year but still managed to make 15 starts, going 1-4 with a 3.25 ERA. Run support was not his friend, but the ERA in the low threes was a good sign for the young pitcher. He was ranked as the Pirates #19 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, and things were going in the right direction. He features a great strikeout rate and solid control, with a fastball that reaches into the mid-90s. He also throws in a slider and a change-up to keep batters on their toes and they both compliment his fastball.
Even though he was a strong pitcher even in high school, MacGregor had to compete for playing time as he was not the only Major League prospect on the team. Three other pitchers at East Lake High School had fastballs in the 90s and it created a great situation for the team. MacGregor would fight to be the ace of the team and had an impressive senior season going 7-1 with a 0.92 ERA in 54 innings of work. He already had a nicely developed arsenal with three above-average pitches, a fastball, a change-up, and a slider. The most impressive thing from his senior season was his high strikeout rate as he set down 84 batters in those 54 innings of work.
With so much talent on their high school baseball team, East Lake High School games were always filled with scouts. MacGregor was getting attention from all of them, but it ended up coming down to three teams that were in talks with him throughout day one of the 2016 MLB Draft. Ultimately, it was the Pittsburgh Pirates who would come calling just minutes before they drafted MacGregor. He ended up being taken in the 2nd Round of that 2017 draft and signed his first professional contract days later. He wouldn't have to go very far to begin his professional career, as he headed to Bradenton, Florida to play for the GCL Pirates.
His introduction to professional baseball ended up going pretty smoothly as he made nine starts for the GCL Pirates and went 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA over 31.2 innings of work. His stuff was not fooling professional hitters nearly as much as it did high school hitters, and his strikeout rate dropped to just 14.5%. He had decent control with a 7.5% walk rate, as all three pitches continued to develop throughout the season. Opponents were finding ways to make contact against him and ended the season with a .248 opponent batting average. However, a lot of that contact was soft contact as he gave you just seven doubles throughout the season.
MacGregor's first month in professional baseball was a breeze as he didn't give up an earned run in his first three starts, and had an ERA of just 1.10 through his first 16.1 innings of work. He walked seven batters over that span and struck out 11 as it looked as though he would make the transition smoothly. However, his first, and really only, bump in the road came in his first start of August when he gave up five earned runs over 3.2 innings. He gave up his only home run of the season in that game and of the seven batters that reached base against him, five came around to score. He redeemed himself in his final start of the year when he allowed one earned run over 4.2 innings of work while striking out six batters.
Because of his success in the GCL, the Pirates decided to promote MacGregor, while still keeping him in Rookie Ball. He would join the Bristol Pirates starting rotation, and things would start to go south for the right-hander. He went just 1-4 with a 7.84 ERA in 41.1 innings of work in the Appalachian League. While he was allowing more runs than ever, one of the positives was the fact that his strikeout rate was back up. He set down 15.3% of the batters he faced, which was an increase from where he was in 2016, but his walk percentage increased as he allowed free passes to 9.5% of the batters he faced.
2017 was just a tough season overall for MacGregor, but he did not pitch as bad as the over seven ERA would normally suggest. His last start of the season really drove up his ERA when he gave up six earned runs in just 0.1 innings of work. That start ended a disastrous stretch at the end of 2017 where in his final four starts he pitched to a 16.00 ERA. It was a season that MacGregor and the Pirates both wanted to forget, and they started with a clean slate in 2018. MacGregor got the call to full-season baseball to start the year, pitching for the West Virginia Power.
It started out as one of his best professional seasons to date as he pitched to a 3.25 ERA over 15 starts that season. His strikeout rate was higher than ever at 27.1%, and he was starting to further develop all three of his top pitches. He also saw his walk percentage (7.6%) and his opponent batting average (.238) drop significantly. He started working deeper and deeper into ball games as he went five innings or more in 10 of his 15 starts. He gave up more than three earned runs only twice over that stretch while turning in eight quality starts. With his walks down and his strikeout numbers up, MacGregor was getting himself into better situations that he could help work himself out of.
However, the injury bug caught MacGregor twice that season, one time worse than the other. His first trip to the Disabled List came on May 18th, 2018 when he experienced elbow discomfort. He sat out for a little over a month and, after a rehab assignment, returned to the Power on July 3rd. He would make eight more starts from July 3rd to August 19th, and he didn't seem like himself with a 3.58 ERA over those eight starts. He would be shut down after his start on August 19th, before it was discovered that he would require Tommy John Surgery. He would have the surgery done in September of 2018 and would be required to miss the entire 2019 season.
2020 was the year MacGregor was supposed to return to the Greensboro Grasshopper starting rotation, but that has to be pushed to 2021 due to Coronavirus. He has been working out in his backyard, throwing baseballs against a rug, and says he is feeling pretty good. As we look ahead to 2021, it is quite possible that MacGregor starts the year in Greensboro, but gets moved to the Bradenton Marauders by season's end. He projects as a middle of the rotation arm, and he is trying to live up to that expectation and his second-round draft pick status moving forward.
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