Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove has suffered injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and can endure Tommy John surgical procedure, per basic supervisor A.J. Preller. Alden González of ESPN was amongst these to relay the announcement on X. The membership hasn’t offered a timeline however Musgrove is bound to overlook the complete 2025 season, provided that restoration from Tommy John surgical procedure usually takes 14 months or longer.
The information isn’t completely shocking, as Musgrove has been battling elbow points all 12 months, nevertheless it’s nonetheless tough for the righty and the membership. By the top of Could he was already on the injured listing for the second time this 12 months, each of these stints resulting from proper elbow irritation. In early June, it was reported that he had a bone spur in that elbow, which ultimately stored him out of motion till August.
He had struggled earlier within the season however completed robust. By the point of that second IL stint, he had made ten begins however with a 5.66 earned run common in that point. After returning in August, he posted a 2.15 ERA in seven begins down the stretch. He struck out 29.1% of opponents and walked 4.1% in that stretch run.
It appeared he was in robust type and set to be a key a part of the membership’s postseason employees. After Michael King shoved within the first sport of the membership’s Wild Card sequence towards Atlanta, Musgrove was given the ball for the second contest. He struck out 4 opponents with out issuing a stroll by means of 3 2/3 innings however then departed the sport with members of the coaching employees, having thrown simply 44 pitches. The Friars later introduced his difficulty as elbow tightness.
The Padres managed to win that sport and transfer on to face the Dodgers within the Division Sequence, however supervisor Mike Shildt introduced earlier in the present day that Musgrove wouldn’t be showing within the sequence. Shildt stopped wanting making any declarations past that, nevertheless it’s now clear that Musgrove’s damage will impression excess of simply the NLDS.
Within the quick time period, the Padres will attempt to navigate the postseason with out Musgrove. They’ve King, Dylan Stop and Yu Darvish as their finest rotation choices, with Martín Pérez and Matt Waldron additionally potentialities to contribute.
They can even need to get by means of the complete 2025 season with out Musgrove, which ought to make beginning pitching an offseason precedence once more. Darvish remains to be underneath contract whereas each King and Stop will be retained by way of arbitration for another season earlier than they’re slated to achieve free company after 2025. Pérez is an impending free agent however Waldron remains to be in his pre-arbitration years.
Stop, King, Darvish and Waldron is an honest foursome however the membership will presumably look to bolster that group. A scarcity of beginning pitching depth was a notable storyline going into final winter, which prompted the membership to focus on that within the Juan Soto commerce. Once they flipped Soto to the Yankees, they introduced again King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe, with Thorpe later flipped to the White Sox as a part of the deal to get Stop.
Brito was largely utilized in reduction this 12 months. Vásquez made 20 begins however with a 4.87 ERA and tepid 14.4% strikeout fee. He additionally struggled badly within the minors, posting an 8.21 ERA in Triple-A. Maybe somebody like Adrián Morejón might be stretched out after his stable 12 months within the bullpen, however there can be threat along with his notable damage historical past.
Budgetary issues had been a notable issue for the Padres final winter as properly. The membership’s streaming take care of Diamond Sports activities Group had collapsed in 2023, forcing MLB to take over the printed because the membership acquired much less income in that division. That led to the Padres dealing Soto and ducking underneath the aggressive stability tax.
RosterResource pegs San Diego’s 2025 CBT quantity at $184MM, properly south of subsequent 12 months’s $241MM base threshold. Nonetheless, that quantity doesn’t account for contracts for arbitration-eligible gamers. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz tasks San Diego’s eight-player class for a complete of $46.7MM. A couple of non-tenders might drop that quantity however most of it’s going to core gamers like King, Stop and Luis Arráez, so the Padres are most likely extra precisely slated to be within the $230MM vary earlier than making any offseason strikes.
Preller should tackle the departures of impending free brokers like Ha-Seong Kim, Jurickson Profar, Donovan Solano and Kyle Higashioka. If the finances is tight once more, he may need to get artistic within the winter, which wouldn’t be uncommon for him. He’s one among baseball’s most lively choice makers and is seemingly at all times concerned in all free agent and commerce talks. With this information, he could have another merchandise on his to-do listing. Musgrove is underneath contract by means of 2027 and is making $20MM yearly as a part of the five-year, $100MM extension he and the membership signed in 2022.
