Joe Musgrove’s rough El Paso start included a huge win for the Padres

Joe Musgrove definitely had an ugly pitching line on Aug. 14. Five runs, nine hits and only 4 2/3 innings. It was just his third rehab start, but it wasn’t a disaster. He wasn’t exactly pitching to protect an ERA or make Triple-A hitters look silly. He’s still testing a reconstructed elbow and increasing his workload. In reality, he accomplished another major goal.

Musgrove threw 70 pitches, including 47 strikes, and recorded five strikeouts. More importantly, he got up for a fifth inning and continued throwing hard. His fastball touched 97 mph in the opening frame, reached 96 in the fourth and still hit 95 after he went back out for the fifth. No one cares about the nine hits right now. At least, not after that news.

Padres have every reason to feel good about Joe Musgrove’s comeback

Musgrove is still recovering from Tommy John surgery in October 2024 and has spent nearly two years working toward this. The 97-mph reading will grab attention, and it should. Musgrove hasn’t reached that number in a major-league game since 2017. That was well before he became a Padre and was still with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He began this rehab assignment sitting around 93 to 94 mph, so the extra life offers another encouraging sign that his arm strength is returning.

Still, the late velocity might be more important. Plenty of pitchers can empty the tank during the first inning. Musgrove was able to carry solid velo through 70 pitches and five separate trips out of the dugout.

His command clearly needs work. Not just about the nine hits, but a walk and a hit batter don’t exactly disappear from this outing. Major-league hitters would probably do more damage if he’s leaving a lot out over the plate. Still, the organization believes he could make his next start in a Padres uniform if they all felt he was ready. But it sounds like they are leaning toward one more rehab start, then they’ll reassess.

It would be nice to see him get another opportunity to push toward 80 pitches, clean up the location issues and then get ready to go five or six innings at the major league level. They can wait another five days at this point.

Musgrove checked the biggest boxes. He built his pitch count, held his velocity and finished the night without a reported physical problem. That’s the only result that matters right now.

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