Rehabbing Padres Pitchers Have Quite Different First Outings

[Steve Drumwright]

There is little doubt that Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove wanted to be on the mound in Phoenix on Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres played the second of a crucial four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Yet here the two veteran right-handers were, at a Low-A stadium in Lake Elsinore, a little more than an hour north of San Diego and 340 miles from Phoenix, on a sunny Tuesday morning.

The two 33-year-olds suited up for the Lake Elsinore Storm with a bunch of aspiring MLB players who are 20 years old or just a year or two off as they took the next big step in their comebacks from injuries. (So did Tyler Glasnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers, making it three MLB pitchers in the California League game involving the Storm and Ontario Tower Buzzers.)

Pivetta and Musgrove are technically on the Padres’ 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, but it has been more than that keeping the pair sidelined for this extended period.

Musgrove hasn’t pitched in a real game since Game 2 of the 2024 NL Wild Card Series. He had Tommy John surgery that October and was on track to be ready by Opening Day this year. But his arm never bounced back from a single exhibition game against a World Baseball C team from Great Britain. Pivetta made four starts to begin the season, leaving an April 12 game vs. the Colorado Rockies after throwing three pitches to begin the fourth inning. He had a start skipped in spring training due to arm fatigue.

First, the bad news that might not be as bad as originally thought. Pivetta, facing his fourth batter after having recorded two flyouts and yielded a single, threw his 16th pitch, a ball that made it a 3-2 count, and immediately walked off the mound and into the Storm dugout on the first-base side, then into the clubhouse. Padres manager Craig Stammen said during his pregame media scrum in Phoenix that Pivetta felt elbow tightness, but then felt better and threw a 30-pitch bullpen session in the batting cages. The team will wait to see how Pivetta feels Wednesday before determining his next step. Pivetta had already relayed that he would not speak with the media following his rehab appearance.

Musgrove, however, did answer questions, doing so before Pivetta exited. Java Joe's outing went fairly well. He threw 39 pitches, including 22 strikes, in going 2⅔ innings. He gave up a run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. After a 14-pitch first inning, Musgrove ran into issues in the second inning, giving up a single, a double and a run-scoring wild pitch, then two walks and a stolen base before an inning-ending double play in the 20-pitch frame. Knowing he only had a handful of pitches left before hitting his allotment, Musgrove retired both hitters he faced in the top of the third on five pitches.

After topping out at 93.1 mph twice in the first inning, Musgrove hit a high of 93.6 mph in the second, consistently around 93. In his brief third inning, he maxed out at 92.5 on his final pitch.

"I think a big checkmark is just getting in there and getting in the pace and the tempo of a normal start and kind of getting your (timing) back in line, getting comfortable, being on the mound with the pitch clock," Musgrove said. "Obviously got the hitters in the box, so checked off a lot of things. Physically feel great. Yeah, good day."

Musgrove was fairly happy overall with his performance as he worked with catcher Ty Harvey, Padres Mission's No. 7 prospect whom he met 20 minutes beforehand. Typical adrenaline rush in the first inning after not being in any type of game since March, then the comedown from that in the second inning. While his mechanics still need some work, his fastball velocity was right where he thought it would be. In 2024, his four-seamer averaged 92.9 mph, and he felt good about his pitch shapes Tuesday.

"That's about where I've been. I've been like (92 to 95 mph) anywhere in that range. Haven't done three ups, so I don't know what my velo was in the last inning, but I felt like I was maintaining decently well," Musgrove said.

He expects his next outing to come Sunday, site to be determined, and probably another inning or so tacked on. Perhaps back in Lake Elsinore. With the Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller having added two excellent starters at the trade deadline in left-hander Robbie Ray and right-hander Casey Mize, the team doesn't have to try and push Musgrove to return quickly to a pennant race that could come down to one game.

"I didn't plan on cutting any corners to begin with," Musgrove said before Pivetta pitched in the game. "The rush thing is not really up to me. If I could, I would rush back and be back sooner than possible. But the staff and A.J. and them got a plan for us to get there. This does give us a little more peace of mind that not everyone's holding their breath, waiting for us to get back. We got a little bit of help until we can get back. But the way that rotation will round out when me and Nick get back, I feel really confident about it."

Musgrove has felt the weight of the rotation not performing as he and Pivetta were sidelined and their progress was slow, yet now the team is in position to be competitive down the stretch.

"Our offense has worked their ass off this year to get things right, and the pitching staff has kind of had to piece it together lately," Musgrove said. "A lot of that responsibility falls on me and Nick. Injuries happen, but this team counted on us being there, being a part of that rotation and him and I are doing everything we can to get back as soon as we can. But having some reinforcements come in, especially guys that have done it for a while at a high level ... Robbie's track record speaks for itself. Casey being a first overall pick (in 2018) and kind of coming into his own in the league as a starter, really good. And then heard a lot of good things about the teams they came from, work ethic and just quality of person, so excited to have them."

The 39-pitch rehab appearance was a good first outing. His one start this spring, the WBC exhibition against Great Britain, went 60 pitches over three innings, which felt to some like a lengthy outing coming off Tommy John surgery.

"I think three innings, 60 pitches felt like a lot," Musgrove said. "But in the moment, you feel good. I wasn't begging to come out of that game, just maybe I shouldn't have let myself go that far in my first one. I never felt great coming into spring. I was always kind of under the idea that I just got to keep working. This thing's going to start to iron itself out and I'll turn the corner soon. And that day just never came. So I went into that outing not feeling great and a little bit skeptical where my arm was going to be. In the moment, competition, the adrenaline, you don't feel much and then the next day, had a really hard time moving my arm. So that could have been part of it. It could have just been my arm wasn't ready. Could have been the pitch count."

As is typical for rehabbing veterans when they visit the minors, Musgrove and Pivetta treated the Storm players a little bit more than they are generally accustomed to.

"We got them a taco truck. There's a coffee cart here this morning," Musgrove said, although it wasn't his Java Joe coffee. "I think we got a Cold Stone (ice cream) truck coming later. So try to do something. We're gonna leave some gifts for them in the locker room, something to spice up their day."

View full article