Padres Ace Joe Musgrove Had 4 Teeth Removed This Week
The United States Postal Service has an unofficial slogan: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove might need a similar motto, something along the lines of, "Neither that wisdom tooth he had extracted nor that other wisdom tooth he had extracted nor that third one nor even the fourth blasted wisdom tooth he had extracted stays this San Diego native from the swift completion of his appointed bullpen session."
As Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, Musgrove had all four of his wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday and threw a bullpen session on Wednesday.
How impressive that is depends on whom you ask, because every wisdom tooth extraction is different but everyone assumes theirs was the universal experience. We have to assume Musgrove's procedure was one of the less dramatic ones, because neither he nor the Padres would risk sending him out for a bullpen session if there were anything to worry about.
We don't yet have word on how the bullpen session went, which is likely a "no news is good news" situation. Musgrove is looking to build on his excellent 2022 season, which saw him make his first All-Star team with a 2.93 ERA in the regular season and a 2.89 ERA in 18.2 postseason innings. The 30-year-old righty signed a five-year, $100 million extension to stay with his hometown Friars through at least 2027.
Along with Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, Musgrove anchors a rotation that has potential to be one of the best in baseball.