Joe Musgrove reveals the Padres’ best kind of impact with emotional Miracle League visit

We are officially in that dead period of baseball where we are getting closer to spring training, but at the same time, there is nothing major to cover. The team still needs another starting pitcher and has to decide on who will play first base, same old, same old.

On another note, a baseball field located in Del Mar, a suburb of San Diego, had a significant name change. Once called Engel Family Field at San Dieguito County Park was renamed to Padres Park. The venue hosts Little League tournaments and thensome.

In attendance at the ceremony was Padres’ starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, who commended the venue for being so hospitable towards children looking to learn more about the sport.

Joe Musgrove delivers a heartwarming Miracle League reminder Padres fans needed

"They share the same passion for baseball that I do, and I connect with them. (I think) We big league players take that for granted."

Musgrove wasn’t the only one in attendance, as centerfielder Jackson Merrill and the Padres’ CEO Erik Greupner also attended the ceremony.

Musgrove, 33, missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but is expected to be ready for opening day. In his four seasons with the Padres, Musgrove has posted a 3.20 ERA over 559.1 innings. He is also 23% better than the league-average pitcher according to ERA+ (123).

When healthy, the Padres' rotation will contain the following: Nick Pivetta, who had a career year in 2025, compiling a 2.87 ERA over 181.2 innings pitched. Michael King, who saw an injury-riddled season, was brought back on a three-year, $75 million deal. Now add Joe Musgrove to the bunch, and we’ve seen what he can be when healthy.

The Padres need to determine what the back-end of the rotation will look like, but that question will be answered soon enough.

Overall, it’s nice to see Padres players making positive impacts on their communities.