{"id":663456,"date":"2026-04-04T21:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663456\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T21:40:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T21:40:33","slug":"joe-musgrove-discusses-tommy-john-recovery-path-back-to-padres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663456\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Musgrove discusses Tommy John recovery, path back to Padres"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove throws during spring training baseball practice Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Peoria, Ariz. (Photo by Charlie Riedel\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Padres premier starter Joe Musgrove threw the first no-hitter<\/a> in club history back in 2001, breaking a drought of 8,205 games. But right now, there isn\u2019t a timetable for when he can pitch again, general manager A.J. Preller said, speculating the end of May at the earliest.<\/p>\n

Musgrove had Tommy John ligament replacement surgery<\/a> on Oct. 11, 2024, just as the Padres were involved in what turned out to be a losing effort against the Dodgers in another National League Division Series.<\/p>\n

That was almost 18 months ago, the usual far end of the surgery\u2019s 12-18 month recovery timeline. But when he took the mound in spring training as part of his progression back, he felt pain and discomfort in the repaired elbow and the medical staff shut him down. He hasn\u2019t thrown off a mound since March 4.<\/p>\n

Musgrove told the Times of San Diego in an exclusive clubhouse interview during the club\u2019s season-opening homestand at Petco Park that he\u2019s starting all over again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just in the beginning stages of picking up a throwing program,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m pretty basic right now. I\u2019m not throwing off the mound yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s bad news for the Padres by any stretch of the imagination. Musgrove missed the entire 2025 season and the Padres struggled to replace him. It\u2019s no better now. Their top two starters, Nick Pivetta and Michael King, have pitched pretty well to open the season. Randy Vazquez, in the No. 3 slot, has continued to impress. But the rotation falls off the cliff after that. Walker Buehler and German Marquez were awful in their first starts.<\/p>\n

Musgrove is in the fourth year of a $100 million contract that will pay him $20 million a year through 2027, his age 34 season. He\u2019s 33 now. It\u2019s not a process anyone can rush, and no one wants the injury to recur, leading to a second Tommy John surgery, which replaces the ulnar ligament in the elbow that\u2019s as thin and precarious as a rubber band.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting back into throwing after so much time down,\u201d Musgrove said. \u201cDuring the spring I wasn\u2019t feeling my best. I was capable of going out throwing, but just not recovering great. I pushed myself trying to see if I could break through. Maybe it\u2019s part of the process of building back up and breaking down the scar tissue or what not.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really didn\u2019t turn the corner for me. So, I figured I\u2019d address it now before we get into the heat of the season and have to miss a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, recovery from this type of surgery can be based on the makeup of the pitcher both physically and mentally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure that\u2019s something that\u2019s individual,\u201d Musgrove said. \u201cSome guys probably feel great the first year back.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Yankees, Gerrit Cole was barely 12 months out from his Tommy John surgery before taking the mound twice in game action at the conclusion of spring training. He pitched well, felt no pain and tracked his recovery timeline without incident<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, it\u2019s looking at a return from mid-May to June 1,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Cole threw two innings against the Cubs in Mesa on March 24. \u201cWe\u2019ll just see how the next several weeks unfold and when we will begin that true build-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Cole seemed way ahead of the game, there was no rush. His throwing schedule included some outings at the Yankees\u2019 Tampa complex, and a slate of minor-league rehab starts before his debut in the Major Leagues.<\/p>\n

That timetable sounded good to Cole.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yeah sure,\u201d he said. \u201cFourteen to 18 months, write it down. It never fails. Just reminding everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musgrove would like to be on that type of progression, but right now it isn\u2019t happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean I\u2019ve tolerated pain for a long time, but I\u2019m at the point where I\u2019m coming off a major surgery and I\u2019m on the back half of my career, so I\u2019m not going to push things right now and cause a setback that could put me out for another year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I look at the amount of time I missed. I\u2019m not OK with missing time, but when you\u2019re out 17, 18 months, what\u2019s another month to make sure I\u2019m 100% and can push through the rest of the season without needing any more breaks or down time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Musgrove is a local kid. He grew up in El Cajon and attended Grossmont High School. Preller obtained him from the Pirates in a three-way trade that included the Mets prior to the start of the 2021 season costing the Padres a group of minor leaguers and pitcher Joey Lucchesi, who wound up in New York.<\/p>\n

He became a local folk hero of sorts on April 9, 2021 \u2013 early in his Padres stay \u2013 when he twirled the club\u2019s first no-hitter against the Rangers in a 3-0 win at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. The now departed Dylan Cease threw the club\u2019s second no-hitter against Washington at Nationals Park on July 25, 2024.<\/p>\n

There were decades when the Padres failed to pitch a no-hitter, hit for the cycle or win a World Series. Now, only the World Series is still pending. No doubt they have a better chance of doing it with a healthy Musgrove.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping if I start a little bit late I\u2019ll be able to run this all the way through the playoffs,\u201d Musgrove said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a thought in the back of your mind how your arm feels as you release certain pitches. That\u2019s a big part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove throws during spring training baseball practice Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Peoria,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2407],"tags":[5,1531,4,43,137,18,4339,4338],"class_list":{"0":"post-663456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego-padres","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-joe-musgrove","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-padres","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-padres","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sandiegopadres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116348613147364124","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}