Padres Manager's Latest Comments Spell Bad News for Joe Musgrove Return

Musgrove's return to the mound is being stalled by a lengthy recovery time.

Sep 5, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres Joe Musgrove (44) watches game play during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's looking more and more like San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove is set to miss a second full season.

The 33-year-old pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon repair in October 2024, and experienced a setback in his recovery during spring training ahead of the 2026 season.

Now, as the regular season's end draws near, Musgrove is out of answers for why he is unable to recover from rehab starts in the minor leagues. The former All-Star has made four rehab starts this season with a 4.60 ERA across 15.2 innings, but his issue has been his inability to recover at a major league pace.

Joe Musgrove spoke about how he's feeling physically and some creative options he and the organization are considering so that he can pitch this season: pic.twitter.com/57jCoHgrBU

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) September 4, 2026

“I don’t know what’s going on with my arm, but something about high-intensity throws is just not allowing me to play catch for a couple days,” Musgrove said to reporters. "I don't think I'm a wrap for the year. We're just trying to look at some different options of shorter appearances, or different theories. I mean, I'm running out of answers."

Padres manager Craig Stammen had similar views on utilizing Musgrove in the bullpen rather than in the starting rotation.

“I think probably the next option on the table is him not pitching as long in outings and seeing if that helps recovery, and then slowly build him up that way,” Stammen said.

Musgrove's decline is bad news for a Padres team that is still looking to improve its starting rotation. The Padres' starting rotation has the fifth-lowest WAR among all MLB teams, according to FanGraphs.

It's starting to look like Musgrove, who has consistently delivered when healthy, won't be there to save the day for the ailing Padres starting rotation.

AJ Preller joined @BenAndWoods to discuss when Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta could potentially join the Padres:

"Nick is feeling good. He'll be at Petco this weekend and he could be on the active roster sooner rather than later." pic.twitter.com/tp2VsdGMPK

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) September 4, 2026

“I’ve thrown with soreness before. It’s just physically not possible for me to throw a ball,” Musgrove said. “Don’t have range of motion. Can’t put much on it. And it’s not a permanent thing. It comes back. It’s just, how do I manage these first couple days [after an outing] where I feel like I could throw again in two days if I needed to, which is what it’s going to take to pitch [in the majors].”

The Padres and Musgrove will continue to experiment to see if his soreness is more manageable if he pitches fewer innings. But, with just 18 games remaining in their playoff push, the clock is ticking for Musgrove to make his first major league appearance in nearly two years.

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