The Padres may be in a glass case of emotion right about now.
Their Wild Card sweep of the Braves came with the tough blow that starter Joe Musgrove exited the game early with right elbow tightness that puts his postseason status in jeopardy.
The Padres visit the rival Dodgers on Saturday for Game 1 of the NLDS.
“I’m bothered; I’m frustrated,” Musgrove said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I don’t know what the future looks like for me right now, but I know I’m going to give it every chance I have and I’ll do whatever I have to do to get back in here at some point.”
Elbow or forearm tightness is never a good development for a pitcher, and Musgrove at least told reporters an initial UCL test came back clean. He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on Thursday.
That test will provide further details on whether he can potentially pitch again or if his exit in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 win will be his final appearance of the season.
Musgrove exited with two outs and none in the fourth in a 5-1 game after catcher Kyle Higashioka noticed something was off between pitches.
His curveball registered at roughly 80 mph earlier in the inning but his final two pitches, both Uncle Charlies, approximately sat at 75 mph, the slowest curveballs he’s ever thrown, per MLB.com.
Musgrove landed on the injured list twice this year due to elbow issues, including a nearly three-month absence stemming from a bone spur, but said this ailment felt “very different” than those.
He allowed one run on one hit while striking out four in 3 2/3 innings.
“I was barely getting the ball to plate,” Musgrove said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “My velo had dropped. Stuff just didn’t look right. Didn’t feel right to me, but when you’re out there you never want to show anything and I was one out away from getting out of the inning. I was hoping to get out of the inning and address it between innings.
“I just couldn’t get through it.”
He noted that he had a hard time preparing for this outing
“I had a tough week getting into this start, but I felt pretty good at the start of the game,” Musgrove said, per the Union-Tribune. “And then, I mean, from pitch one, it was tight, but felt like I’d be able to get through the outing and maybe get better as we went or if it stayed where it was we’d be all right.”
This injury puts Musgrove in an uphill battle to pitch in the NLDS and may rob the Padres of one of their best starting pitchers down the stretch.
Musgrove went 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA in nine starters after returning from that second IL stint.
Padres manager Mike Shildt is holding out hope Musgrove will be able to pitch again.
“He said he would do everything he can, which I wouldn’t put nothing past Joe Musgrove to come back,” the manager said.
The Padres likely will start Dylan Cease on Saturday in Game 1, while ex-Yankee Michael King can start Game 2 on regular rest Sunday.
Yu Darvish seemingly would replace Musgrove as San Diego’s third starter, while trade deadline acquisition Martin Perez could possibly slot in as fourth starter if needed.
“Pitching is going to win this time of year. Clearly we like to hope to get Joe back. We’ll evaluate that,” Shildt said. “We’ve got pitching depth. We’ve got Cease ready to go and Darvish right there.
“And Martin’s done nothing but good stuff for us and by the time rolls around King will be ready again. We’ve got pitching depth in the bullpen, obviously it was on display tonight and did their part today.”
