Joe Musgrove's most recent start for Triple-A El Paso looked fine on paper. Pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment last Thursday, Musgrove threw 60 pitches, allowed only one run and pitched into the sixth inning for the Chihuahuas.
It was Musgrove's fourth start in a minor league rehabilitation assignment that began on Aug. 4. Pitchers are allowed to rehab for 30 days before they are activated, but Musgrove's next start won't be for the San Diego Padres.
At this point, it's unclear when -or if - Musgrove will start again in 2026.
Manager Craig Stammen told reporters Wednesday that Musgrove is feeling fatigue in his elbow. The ability to maintain a regular starter's pace was, in effect, the final box Musgrove needed to check before he could rejoin the Padres' rotation. With less than a month to play in the regular season, Musgrove hasn't gotten there yet.
The 33-year-old pitcher has shown the requisite velocity and command to succeed at the MLB level. But his ability to recover is essential as the Padres configure their rotation for the stretch run. They are 73-67 after losing Wednesday to the Cincinnati Reds, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the wild-card and National League West standings.
"When you add somebody to the roster, somebody goes off the roster," Stammen said, via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune . "And Joe has got to feel comfortable that he can - he wants to help our team win. He doesn't just want to [just] pitch. And so we want him to be as comfortable as he can in that situation.
"Anything is on the table as far as recovery goes, and how often he pitches, and how much he pitches. So I think everything's being reassessed on a daily basis. ... think part of this process is just hopefully, like, keeping him going, keeping him pitching, keeping him throwing, and then hopefully that recovery timeline gets a little smaller."
Time is not on Musgrove's side with 22 games left in the regular season. If Musgrove can't recover adequately from a start, pitching on consecutive days out of the bullpen would likely be out of the question, too.
Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in October 2024. For all its success, the procedure comes with no guarantees as far as the timetable for a pitcher's return. Musgrove and the Padres are learning that lesson the hard way.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/padres/onsi as Padres' Joe Musgrove Suffers New Setback, Putting Return in Jeopardy .
