The San Diego Padres already had a difficult road ahead to try to make the MLB playoffs and those chances took a major blow on Friday with the reveal of what could be a season-ending injury to one of their best players.
This has been a very frustrating season for the San Diego Padres. The team entered its 2023 campaign with some lofty aspirations based on its star-studded and expensive roster. On paper, they have one of the best teams in the league but this group has been unable to transition their impressive talent into wins this season.
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Nevertheless, despite being 54-55 and unofficially out of the National League West race, they are only four games out of the final Wild Card spot. While they haven’t been able to get momentum over the first few months, there is enough talent on the roster that catching fire in the next few weeks would not at all be unexpected.
However, if they can get on a roll they may have to do it without one of their best pitchers for the rest of the season.
San Diego Padres record (2023): 54-55
It all started when stud pitcher Joe Musgrove was unexpectedly scratched from his Wednesday start against the Colorado Rockies. While the move seemed precautionary at first and they had him lined up to return early next week, the starter gave the organization enough reason to do more in-depth testing on his valuable arm. Well, an MRI found something and it wasn’t good.
- Joe Musgrove stats (2023): 10-3, 3.05 ERA, 1.140 WHIP, 97 SO, 97.1 IP
On Friday afternoon, The Athletic reported that “Right-hander Joe Musgrove will be sidelined at least three weeks after an MRI revealed inflammation in his right shoulder capsule.” With such a diagnosis, it isn’t out of the question that he could be done for the rest of the season if his arm does not positively react to treatment over the next few weeks.
The loss is killer for the San Diego Padres since Musgrove has been one of the best pitchers in the league since May. In 12 starts since May 26, the 30-year-old has pitched to a 1.84 ERA. It is the second-best ERA in the league during that time, only behind teammate Blake Snell’s 0.73.