CINCINNATI -- Joe Musgrove is so close -- so agonizingly close.
But it appears his return to a big league mound will be delayed further, after the Padres right-hander experienced further arm soreness following his most recent rehab start.
The Padres don’t believe that soreness is anything other than the usual soreness pitchers experience as they build their way back from Tommy John surgery. But it’s a step Musgrove needs to move past before he can return to the roster.
“Joe’s not -- you can probably tell from the last start, how many days [ago] it was -- he’s just not recovering as quick as he would like,” said manager Craig Stammen. “But he’s able to recover eventually.”
After a relatively steady progression for the first couple weeks of his rehab stint, Musgrove needed 12 days between starts before he was ready for his most recent outing with Triple-A El Paso.
He threw five excellent innings with El Paso on Thursday, allowing one run and requiring only 60 pitches. But according to Stammen, Musgrove didn’t bounce back well in the days afterward. He hasn’t thrown a bullpen session since and the Padres haven’t yet mapped out plans for his next rehab start.
“Everything’s being reassessed on a daily basis,” Stammen said.
Considering the calendar, that would seem to put Musgrove’s return this season into some question.
“When you add somebody to the roster, somebody goes off the roster,” Stammen said. “Joe’s got to feel comfortable that he can help our team win. He wants to help our team win. He doesn’t just want to pitch.”
Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2024 and endured a significant setback earlier this year after a Spring Training start. There’s no indication this soreness is anything like that setback.
The San Diego rotation is in much better shape than it was a month ago thanks to the Deadline additions of Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, plus improved performance from Randy Vásquez and Walker Buehler. But the Padres were still hoping to add Musgrove and Nick Pivetta to that mix at some point.
After a setback in early August, Pivetta built to 4 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso on Sunday. He threw 64 pitches and struck out seven, while allowing no runs on two hits and one walk.