Pivetta exits rehab outing with apparent injury; Musgrove throws 2 2/3 IP

Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta walked off the mound with an apparent injury during a rehab appearance with Single-A Lake Elsinore on Tuesday afternoon.

Pivetta has been sidelined since early April with a flexor strain in his right elbow, and the Padres had been targeting a late August return. But Pivetta threw his 14th pitch of the afternoon and abruptly walked off the mound in Lake Elsinore and retreated to the dugout.

There were no details immediately offered regarding Pivetta’s early departure.

If he’s injured -- particularly if it’s a recurrence of his prior elbow injury -- that’s a major blow for a Padres rotation that has been awaiting his return. Pivetta finished sixth in National League Cy Young Award voting last season and posted a 2.87 ERA.

The Padres can take some solace in the fact that they bolstered their rotation in a major way at Monday’s Trade Deadline, adding both Robbie Ray and Casey Mize. But those moves could be chalked up as a necessity. The San Diego rotation has been thin all season. Even with those two additions, the Padres were counting on the returns of Pivetta and Joe Musgrove.

Musgrove also appeared in Tuesday’s game for Lake Elsinore, his first rehab start after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2024. He worked 2 2/3 innings, throwing 39 pitches.

That’s a crucial step forward for Musgrove and felt like a major reason for optimism, until it was overshadowed by Pivetta’s early exit an inning later.