LOS ANGELES – Joe Musgrove needs Tommy John surgery and won’t pitch for the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The right-hander has an ulnar collateral ligament injury, A.J. Preller, the Padres president of baseball operations, said Friday. Recovery typically takes 12 to 18 months, meaning Musgrove could miss the entire 2025 season.
“I’m devastated about not being able to finish what we started,” an emotional Musgrove said in the Padres dugout. “It’s just a matter of coming to grips with that this is it for me.”
Musgrove is just the latest in a series of MLB pitchers who’ve sustained UCL injuries this season, including Atlanta’s Spencer Strider, Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, Toronto’s Alek Manoah and Miami’s Eury Pérez.
“It’s rampant in our game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Musgrove left Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series with elbow tightness. He threw two slow curveballs to fall behind 2-1 on Atlanta’s Matt Olson with two outs in the fourth and was visited by pitching coach Ruben Niebla. Padres manager Mike Shildt and an athletic trainer joined them, and Musgrove came out.
“If you’re not a pitcher, it’s very difficult to explain. I just had a hard time getting to full extension and letting pitches go,” Musgrove said Wednesday. “There wasn’t a whole lot of confidence behind it. I had two outs in the inning. I was hoping to be able to get through the inning and then address it in between, but I didn’t make it to that point.”
Musgrove had been pitching through discomfort for a couple of weeks. The 31-year-old right-hander had two stints on the injured list with right elbow inflammation this season, costing him a total of 63 games. His second stint sidelined him for 2 1/2 months. He had a 2.17 ERA over 54 innings since Aug. 12.
“I was told back in the middle months of the summer that it was some damage there and that it was kind of a matter of time,” he said. “This seemed like something that I could manage. Physically, I felt like I was capable of throwing still. It didn’t feel like anything as extreme as a UCL injury, but over the last few weeks it was getting a little more intense.”
Musgrove said he would reach out to players who’ve had Tommy John surgery to learn more. The procedure involves reattaching a tendon from another part of the body to the elbow.
“I don’t know when the surgery will be. I’d like to get it sooner rather than later,” he said. “I’m going to be supporting the hell out of these guys.”
Musgrove is in the second season of a $100 million, five-year contract calling for $20 million annually from 2023-27.
Losing Musgrove is a blow. The native of El Cajon is revered by Padres fans for throwing the first no-hitter in franchise history in 2021, when he was acquired that January in a three-team trade.
Preller said, “We’re definitely not here if it’s not for Joe Musgrove.”
“He’s a special individual, but I can tell you we’ll be just fine and compete,” Shildt said. “He’ll be in our hearts but won’t be with us on the mound.”
Musgrove is well-liked around the majors as well, and Roberts called his absence “a bummer.”
“Joe is not only a good pitcher, he’s a great guy,” Roberts said. “So to be at the 1-yard line as far as in this series and for him to not be a part of it, it sucks.”
The Padres will start right-hander Dylan Cease in Game 1, followed by righty Yu Darvish in Game 2.
“He’s a great leader, great teammate,” Cease said of Musgrove. “He’ll be with us in other ways.”
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