Padres hit with 'sudden and drastic' blow to starting rotation on eve of postseason series with Dodgers

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The San Diego Padres will be without one of their top arms for the rest of the postseason and well beyond.

Joe Musgrove started Game 2 of a National League Wild Card Series Wednesday but was taken out after just 3⅔ innings due to elbow tightness in his throwing arm.

That's never a good sign, and the worst-case scenario played out.

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Joe Musgrove, left, of the San Diego Padres leaves during the fourth inning in Game 2 of a wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park Oct. 2, 2024, in San Diego.   (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

San Diego announced Friday that Musgrove will undergo Tommy John surgery, almost certainly shelving him for the entire 2025 season as well.

Musgrove has been hampered by injuries since the 2022 campaign, the best of his career. His season ended early last year after he had inflammation in a shoulder capsule. This season didn't start off so hot. He compiled a 5.66 ERA in his first 10 starts. San Diego then placed him on the 60-day IL with a bone spur in his right elbow.

When he returned, Musgrove returned to form, pitching to a 2.15 ERA in his final nine starts of the season, including an outing in which he allowed six earned runs in 4⅓ innings early last month. It added up to a 3.88 ERA, but he clearly was trending in the right direction.

Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres leaves during the fourth inning of Game 2 of a wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park Oct. 2, 2024, in San Diego.   (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

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However, on Wednesday night, he was taken out of the game, walking off the field with a trainer and clearly emotional.

"I'm devastated I'm not going to finish what we started," Musgrove said on Friday of his "sudden and drastic" injury. 

"It's a matter of coming to grips that this is it for me."

Musgrove said when he got his elbow checked out over the summer, doctors told him it was a "matter of time" until the worst happened.

"The writing was on the wall for me. It was a matter of when," he said.

Despite Musgrove leaving the game early, San Diego took down the Atlanta Braves to move on to the National League Division Series.

It's their third trip to an NLDS since 2020, all of which will have come against the NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove leaves during the fourth inning of Game 2 in the wild-card round of the 2024 MLB Playoffs against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park.  (Denis Poroy/Imagn Images)

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Musgrove figured to be an option to pitch Game 3 of the NLDS on an extra day of rest.

That series begins Saturday night in Los Angeles with an 8:38 p.m. ET first pitch.