Joe Musgove understands how important he is to the San Diego Padres rotation, and he understands that he’s also still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Balancing those two things is a juggling act, and Musgrove talked about it in a recent piece written by Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
“I’ve talked to a lot of guys that say they don’t feel normal or don’t feel back to themselves (until) about that two-year mark,” Musgrove said . “I’ve got all these things that I’m aware of, but I’m not really trying to put myself into one of those classes right now. I’m kind of just taking the ball every fifth day and see how I recover and adjust as we go.”
That adjustment is important, as new manager Craig Stammen noted. Stammen loaded up on the hyperbole after Musgrave’s first start, then walked back his initial comments back a little when he realized the possible implications.
“Joe’s capable of being the best pitcher in the National League,” Stammen said. “I think the way that he puts work in and the attention to detail — you know, we’ve seen other pitchers come back from Tommy John and have spectacular seasons, so I’m not going to put that past Joe.”
Stammen’s qualifier was that there wasn’t what he called a”100 percent chance that’s going to happen,” but his job and record this year depends in large part on the degree of Musgrove’s recovery, and he added that the Padres are going to get “a very good version of Joe Musgrove.”
Fortunately, Musgrove is more balanced in his expectations. He knows that the Tommy John alumni club includes the likes of Jacob de Grom, Matthew Boyd and Kris Bubic from last year’s All-Star team, as well as pitchers like Sandy Alcantra and German Marques, who endured career-worst results in their first year back.
“But yeah, I’d like to come back and be able to stay healthy and make my starts. I don’t expect to make 180, 200 innings, but I expect to be able to take the ball consistently throughout the year and be productive.”
In his first start back against Great Britain, Musgrove struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and hit 95 on the gun, but he also felt an immediate drop-off, which is part of the process.
“I feel like last half of that last inning was a little tougher for me to get it up to 93, 94 (mph),” Musgrove said. “But I feel like it’s somewhat expected as I’m building up pitch count. … Hopefully, this raises the bar for me, and next time, I’ll be able to maintain a little longer.”
Musgrave’s next start will likely come against the Los Angeles Angels in a spring training game, but he also wants to face big-league hitters in a big stadium, including night games. He knows how badly the Padres need him, so he wants to keep the train on the tracks, schedule-wise.
“Things like that will be another adjustment,” he added. “But for me, I’m still kind of checking boxes and building up.”