Joe Musgrove last pitched for the San Diego Padres on Oct. 2, 2024. He walked off the mound that day, a playoff game versus the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card series, knowing that his elbow was done. He had known for most of the season that his time was limited before he would need UCL repair surgery. Musgrove pitched most of the season with a partial tear in the ligament.
After spending all of the 2025 season working on his rehab from Tommy John surgery, Musgrove went into spring camp in February of 2026 hoping to return during the season. The original plan was for sometime in the middle of the campaign, at least allowing himself time to build up for a late-season run.
After starting a game in the spring, it became clear that Musgrove needed more time before being ready to join his teammates. The Padres shut him down soon after, and he only began to make meaningful progress in July.
Musgrove has now made three rehab starts in minor league games. The first one was on Aug. 4, with Single-A Lake Elsinore, and the other two were with Triple-A El Paso. In the first outing, he went 2.2 innings with 39 pitches. He allowed a home run but had no walks, and reported feeling good the following day.
In the second start on Aug. 9, he went 3.1 innings and threw 53 pitches. Musgrove threw all of his pitches and averaged 93-95 mph on his fastball through the outing.
For his third start, again with the Chihuahuas, Musgrove went 4.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with a home run. He also walked one and struck out five. The results are not the important part of the outing when a major league pitcher is on a rehab assignment. It’s just like Spring Training, where results are basically ignored while they work on their pitches, their location, and specific goals.
The notable stat from his outing was that his fastball sat consistently 93-97 mph throughout the 70 pitches he threw, hitting 97 in the first inning, 96 in the fourth inning, and 95 in the fifth. With the increased velocity, it might not be a surprise that his location suffered as a result.
Per Jeff Saunders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Musgrove has not hit 97 mph with a pitch in a big league game since 2017. Before his surgery, Musgrove was consistently 90-93 mph with his fastball.
Musgrove will join the new Padres
The Padres acquired two starters at the trade deadline to shore up a rotation that had struggled to field more than two regular starters for the past month. The Padres’ use of the “pitching chaos” approach bought them some time for general manager A.J. Preller to trade for two reliable pitchers in righty Casey Mize and lefty Robby Ray. Joining Michael King and Walker Buehler, these two provide the team with four of the five needed starters that can complete 5-6 innings regularly. This will protect the bullpen and help the offense.
There is still a TBD spot in the rotation and that could be where Musgrove slots in as soon as next week. He will probably get one more minor league start before being activated for the major league team.
While righty Randy Vasquez has occasionally filled that spot admirably, he has been highly inconsistent and therefore not reliable. The goal, with 37 games remaining in the regular season, is for their starting staff to do enough to give the offense a chance to score more than the other team as well as give the bullpen relief from the high demands made of them through the middle of the season.
Musgrove is a gamer. That is something all Padres fans know about the veteran. He will give it his all whenever he is out on the mound. If he has enough command of his pitches, Musgrove could provide a big step toward the stability the starting rotation needs down the stretch and into the playoffs.