San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove will miss the rest of the postseason and most of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Friday.
San Diego Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove will miss the rest of the postseason and most of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Friday. Musgrove started Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, but was taken out after just 3⅔ innings due to elbow tightness.
An MRI on Thursday revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in Musgrove's right elbow, necessitating surgery. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
Padres' Joe Musgrove Out for Season, Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Musgrove has been hampered by injuries since the 2022 season, the best of his career. His season ended early last year after he had inflammation in a shoulder capsule. This season didn't start off so hot, either. He compiled a 5.66 ERA in his first 10 starts.
San Diego then placed Musgrove on the 60-day IL with a bone spur in his right elbow. When he returned, Musgrove returned to form, pitching to a 2.15 ERA in his final nine starts of the season, including an outing in which he allowed six earned runs in 4⅓ innings early last month. It added up to a 3.88 ERA, but he clearly was trending in the right direction.
Padres' Joe Musgrove Out for Season, Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
However, on Wednesday night, he was taken out of the game, walking off the field with a trainer and clearly emotional.
"I'm devastated I'm not going to finish what we started," Musgrove said on Friday of his "sudden and drastic" injury. "It's a matter of coming to grips that this is it for me."
Padres' Joe Musgrove Out for Season, Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Musgrove said when he got his elbow checked out over the summer, doctors told him it was a "matter of time" until the worst happened.
"The writing was on the wall for me. It was a matter of when," he said.
Despite Musgrove leaving the game early, San Diego took down the Atlanta Braves to move on to the National League Division Series. It's their third trip to an NLDS since 2020, all of which will have come against the NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Musgrove figured to be an option to pitch Game 3 of the NLDS on an extra day of rest. That series begins Saturday night in Los Angeles with an 8:38 p.m. ET first pitch.
