Padres' Joe Musgrove Has No Timeline to Start Pitching Off Mound in Concerning Update

The San Diego Padres were dealt a major blow to their pitching staff before the start of the regular season when it was announced that right-hander Joe Musgrove suffered a setback in his injury recovery.

Musgrove is returning from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2025 season, but didn't bounce back from a March 4 exhibition start as he had hoped.

The right-hander was expected to be a big part of the Padres' pitching plans this season, but there doesn't seem to be a timeline for his return. Musgrove hasn't started to throw off a mound, which is the first of many big steps in his recovery process.

Once Musgrove can do this, it will take him multiple bullpen sessions and rehab starts to actually get back. Padres manager Craig Stammen provided an update on the right-hander, confirming that his return will likely take a while.

“It’s going to be a slow and arduous process,” Stammen said. “But Joe is willing to put the work in and sooner or later, we’ll get him back.”

In all likelihood, the earliest that Musgrove will return is sometime in May, if not later. San Diego is being cautious with his timeline and just allowing him to take things one day at a time.

Musgrove has been playing catch every other day almost two weeks, but the entire process is going slower than anticipated. But Musgrove isn't going to rush anything, and neither are the Padres.

The last thing that either side wants to do is have Musgrove return before he is fully healthy, only to suffer another setback.

“Just trying to get some consistent feedback from the throwing,” Musgrove said to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“Right now, it’s throwing until we get to a point where I feel confident being able to go out and physically feel good enough to put something on the ball.”

Over the last few years, when he has been healthy, Musgrove has been a catalyst for the Padres' starting rotation. San Diego has turned to him in the biggest of games, and for the most part, he has done just that.

In his last season on the mound during the 2024 campaign, Musgrove made 19 starts for the Padres. The right-hander registered an ERA of 3.88 over 99.2 innings of work, striking out 101 batters.

Coming back from Tommy John surgery is never easy, but this setback has hurt the Padres greatly, especially due to all the uncertainty of the others in the rotation. The big weakness for San Diego coming into the year was the starting pitching, and losing Musgrove was a tough pill to swallow.

The hope is that the right-hander can continue to heal properly and get back on the mound sooner rather than later. But for now, the Padres will try to stay afloat until he can actually return to form for them.