Padres Manager Admits There's No Guarantees With Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta

The San Diego Padres are currently fighting for playoff positioning in a crowded National League wild-card race this season.

San Diego has managed to stay competitive despite the team seeing all sorts of injuries take place across the starting rotation. The team has been without both Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta for the majority of the season, leaving the staff incredibly thin.

But each pitcher has begun the necessary steps to return, with the right-handers facing live hitters last week. This marked the first time that either pitcher had done so since the beginning of this season (and for Pivetta, since going on the IL in April).

Musgrove has been out since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024, seeing an extensive recovery following a setback he suffered during spring training. Pivetta made four starts this season for the Padres, posting a 4.50 ERA before his elbow injury.

The two right-handers should be going on rehab assignments shortly, assuming there aren't any more setbacks.

However, Padres manager Craig Stammen weighed in on the recovery of both Pivetta and Musgrove, saying that nothing is guaranteed in terms of them returning.

“We’ve definitely taken them on a road that would get them ready for the end of the season and tried to be very strategic and put their health as the No. 1 priority,” Stammen said recently. “If we get them back and they’re ineffective, then it’s not going to do us any good, either.

"So, we need a little bit of both [health and effectiveness], which isn’t guaranteed, you know?”

Both pitchers appear on track to return by the end of August, but as Stammen said, there are no guarantees with the recoveries. The Padres are currently 53-53 on the season, just two games back of the third wild-card spot.

The Padres desperately need the two starters back to give the pitching staff a boost for the stretch run. San Diego has the fourth-worst team starting pitching ERA this season at 4.68, with the starters underperforming all year.

San Diego has slow-played both pitchers' recovery to make sure that when they do return, the risk of re-injuring themselves is low.

Pivetta was the ace of the Padres staff last season, posting a 2.87 ERA over 31 starts. In his last healthy year in 2024, Musgrove made 19 starts, recording a 3.88 ERA.

“Obviously we want to get back here as soon as possible,” Musgrove said in mid-July. “So, being smart along the way but probably skipping a few of the extra lives and the extra [simulated] games. Just try to get right to it. … I think in a month I can make up a lot of ground and get in a really good spot."

The recovery process for Pivetta and Musgrove has been trending in the right direction over the last few weeks after a long road for each pitcher. The Padres just need to stay in the race long enough to get these guys back on the mound, giving them a shot to get into the playoffs.

Add us as a preferred source on Google