In order to pitch for the San Diego Padres against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series, Joe Musgrove will require Tommy John surgery.
The right-handed pitcher’s ulnar collateral ligament is injured, as stated by Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller. Due to the typical 12- to 18-month recovery period following this operation, Musgrove may miss the whole 2025 campaign.
Feeling saddened that we couldn’t complete the task at hand, Musgrove broke down in tears in the Padres dugout. “All I need to do is accept that this is the end for me.”
This season, a number of MLB pitchers have had UCL injuries, including Atlanta’s Spencer Strider, Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, Toronto’s Alek Manoah, and Miami’s Eury Pérez. Musgrove is one of them.
In our game, it’s pervasive, said to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Musgrove departed the NL Wild Card Series’ second game because of soreness in his elbow. With two outs in the fourth inning against Atlanta’s Matt Olson, he had thrown two slow curveballs and trailed 2-1. Musgrove was forced to leave the game after visiting with Padres manager Mike Shildt, pitching coach Ruben Niebla, and an athletic trainer.
This is really hard to convey to someone who isn’t a pitcher. Musgrove stated on Wednesday, “I just had a hard time getting to full extension and letting pitches go.” “It was lacking a great deal of confidence. The inning had two outs for me.
I didn’t make it to the point where I could have dealt with it after the inning, which was my hope.
For some weeks, Musgrove has been pitching with pain. This season, the 31-year-old missed 63 games during his two stints on the disabled list due to tendinitis in his right elbow. He missed two and a half months due to his second stint. Since August 12, he has pitched 54 innings with a 2.17 ERA.
He recalled being informed that there was damage there and that it would only become worse in the midst of the summer. It looked like I could handle this. I could feel myself physically able to throw. Although it didn’t feel particularly severe like a UCL injury, it did get slightly more so in the previous two weeks.
In order to find out more about the procedure, Musgrove said he will get in touch with players who have undergone Tommy John surgery. Reattaching a tendon to the elbow from another area of the body is the surgical procedure.
