Joe

Musgrove

Musgrove won’t pitch at all in 2025. The surgery was performed by Dr. Keith Meister, according to Lin. Musgrove is under contract with the Padres through the 2027 season.

What a blow. The Padres have been one of if not the hottest team in baseball since the start of June, but losing Musgrove for essentially the entirety of their playoff run is certainly a bump in the road for San Diego. For Musgrove himself, the timing as well as the injury itself is brutal. While Preller didn’t provide a timeline, Musgrove won’t pitch at all in 2025.

Musgrove was removed from his Wild Card series start on Wednesday with right elbow tightness. He’s undergone testing on the elbow and has now been ruled out for the Division series. Padres manager Mike Shildt wouldn’t speculate about Musgrave’s potential availability if the Padres advance. Adrian Morejon or Martin Perez could pick up a playoff start in Musgrave’s absence.

He was pulled with a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning tonight. Assuming that Musgrove misses additional time, Yu Darvish and Martín Pérez will round out the Padres’ four-man rotation going forward. It’s definitely a big loss, but with the way Pérez has thrown, it might not be a fatal one.

Early indications are that it’s an elbow problem. Musgrove didn’t make any effort to remain in the contest after a visit from the trainer. His final pitch was a 75-mph curveball, which is several mph below his usual curve. Bryan Hoeing took over in the game against the Braves.

Musgrove is getting moved ahead of Cease here, which is a little surprising. This will put King on six days’ rest, Musgrove on five and Cease on seven, if Game 3 is necessary.

Musgrove turned in six scoreless innings, but he and Tanner Scott combined to give up five runs in the seventh, and Scott wound up taking the loss. Before that seventh inning, Musgrove was working on a streak of 18 scoreless innings. One imagines he’ll join Dylan Cease and Michael King in the planned rotation for the best-of-three Wild Card series next week. The order just needs to be determined; Cease figures to go in Game 1, making it a tough call between Musgrove and Michael King in Game 2.

It’s the fifth time in eight starts since returning from the IL in which Musgrove has gone without allowing a run. He has a 2.05 ERA and a 51/7 K/BB in 44 innings during the stretch, with six of the 10 runs he allowed coming in one outing. He’s due to make his next start Thursday versus the Dodgers.

Musgrove gave up three homers and six runs to the same team last time out. Tonight, the Giants mustered just three singles off him and two more against the bullpen, never coming through with an extra-base hit in the game. They also never drew a walk. Musgrove moved to 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA in seven starts since coming off the IL. He’ll face the lowly White Sox next week.

That’s as many earned runs as he had allowed in his last seven starts combined. Musgrove fanned seven, but he gave up three homers after not allowing any in five starts since coming off the IL last month. He’ll have a chance to get revenge next week when he faces the Giants in San Francisco.