PITTSBURGH -- The round numbers mattered to Joe Musgrove this season. He set out to make 30 starts. He wanted to pitch around 180 innings.

Musgrove accomplished the first goal and finished within striking distance of the second this year, his first full campaign in the Majors going wire to wire in the starting rotation. The big right-hander punctuated his season with a quality start on Thursday night as the Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the Cubs with a 9-5 victory at PNC Park.

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It wasn’t just about the numbers themselves for Musgrove, but what they represented and what they might allow him to do next season.

“Making 30 starts means that you’re doing something right with your routine, and the quality is good enough to be able to stay here,” Musgrove said earlier this week. “We’re looking to be a postseason team, trying to build something, so them allowing me to make all my starts this year and not cut me short on innings is really important. I don’t want my first time in the 170-180 range to be in the playoffs and not know what that’s like.

“Getting to get this deep into the year and get some experience in some uncharted territory is really important to me.”

Musgrove headed into the offseason on a high note, holding the Cubs to three runs (two earned) while allowing only three hits and two walks over six innings. He didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning. He struck out eight, one shy of tying his season high.

He threw all six of his pitches, and he fanned Chicago’s hitters with fastballs, sliders and curveballs. It seems like a long time ago that Musgrove came to Pittsburgh talking about paring down his pitch mix. Now, he wants to perfect everything in his arsenal.

“It’s a Swiss Army knife, and it’s fun when it works,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “When you’re throwing them and they’re all playing, that’s what makes the unpredictability so special for him and so hard on a hitter.”

Last season, Musgrove watched Jameson Taillon (32 starts, 191 innings) and Trevor Williams (31 starts, 170 2/3 innings) set the tone for Pittsburgh’s rotation. They took the ball every fifth day, from start to finish. That wasn’t possible for Musgrove in his first year with the Pirates for two reasons: He was coming off a year in which he only pitched 109 1/3 innings due to a midseason transition to the Astros’ bullpen, and his 2018 was bookended by shoulder and abdominal injuries.

This year, Musgrove was the model of dependability for a Pirates rotation constantly beset by injuries. He avoided the injured list entirely. He completed at least six innings in 18 of his outings. He finished the season with a 4.44 ERA in 170 1/3 innings over 31 starts and one relief appearance, and he set career highs in wins (11), starts, innings and strikeouts (157).

A few weeks ago, Musgrove said, the Pirates’ coaching staff talked to him about managing his workload. He only threw 115 1/3 innings last season, so they were wary of letting him climb too far past the 160-inning mark. He wanted to keep pitching, and he said he walked off the mound Thursday feeling “incredible.”

“I told them to let me keep taking the ball,” Musgrove said. “I said I’d rather just take the ball until I reach that number, and if you feel like you need to shut me down, then do it at that point.”

Musgrove’s dependability and competitive spirit -- which he shows on the mound, at the plate, in the field and even while making headfirst slides on the bases -- have turned the 26-year-old into an emerging leader in Pittsburgh’s clubhouse.

“He just kind of realized how much guys respect him. He’s as good of a competitor as we have,” catcher Jacob Stallings said. “Whenever you’re like that on the field, you get instant credibility in the clubhouse.”

It was Musgrove who stood up and encouraged the team in August after a miserable, 4-24 stretch. The day closer Felipe Vázquez was arrested, Musgrove was one of a few Pirates who addressed the stunned clubhouse. But leadership is about the little moments, too, like Musgrove’s daily mentorship of top prospect Mitch Keller.

“I felt like people were approaching me and telling me that I have all the qualities of a leader and that I need to start stepping into that role a little sooner than I would have expected,” Musgrove said. “I’m trying to walk the fine line of taking that next step and being that leadership figure but also not trying to overpower anybody else’s voice in the clubhouse.”

That position hasn’t necessarily come naturally to Musgrove. This is only his second year with the Pirates and his third full season in the Majors. When he won a World Series in Houston two years ago, he looked up to leaders like Carlos Beltrán, Justin Verlander and Brian McCann -- respected players with more than a decade of experience.

The Pirates don’t have many established veterans like that on their roster, though. Chris Archer turned 31 on Thursday, and he’s their third-oldest player behind soon-to-be free agents Francisco Liriano and Melky Cabrera.

That means there’s room for someone like Musgrove to set the standard.

“He’s got some street cred. He’s got a World Series ring. He posted up from start to finish,” Hurdle said. “He’s one of the guys that I believe everybody will look forward to taking another step forward in a role of collective leadership. He’s a guy. He’s definitely a guy. He can be a pillar in there eventually.”