SAN DIEGO (AP) — Veteran pitcher Joe Musgrove began Tuesday as a surprise addition to the San Diego Padres ' roster for their NL Wild Card Series and ended the night by finishing off the Chicago Cubs in an 8-0 victory nearly two full years after his most recent appearance in a major league game.
“We’re banking on him, and of all the guys in the clubhouse, he’s probably one of the top guys that you can trust,” manager Craig Stammen said before the game.
The big right-hander from El Cajon came through, even though it got a little sticky on a perfect night for baseball in downtown San Diego.
In a moment that thrilled the sellout crowd of 47,084 at Petco Park, Musgrove jogged in from the bullpen to start the ninth inning with the Padres leading 8-0. He struck out Michael Busch on three pitches. But he then loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, prompting a visit from pitching coach Ruben Niebla.
Musgrove got Pedro Ramírez to pop out to second base and then punched out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto to seal the victory that gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the series.
Musgrove pumped his fist and hugged catcher Luis Campusano and his other teammates.
“I still can't really put it together. It's been a while since I've been out of the bullpen,” Musgrove said. “I’m managing the nerves and the energy of the stadium. It was different for me, but I was so excited to get back on the mound. It felt like home out there. A little bit of nerves coming in, but it felt great.”
Musgrove hasn't played for his hometown team since Oct. 2, 2024, when he left the Padres' clinching Wild Card Series victory over Atlanta with a right elbow injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2025 season, and he subsequently missed the entire 2026 regular season when his recovery progressed much more slowly than expected.
Musgrove couldn't remember what Niebla told him.
"I was laser-focused on getting the next guy out. It was pretty much, just calm down a little bit, get some more outs and let's go home."
Musgrove also called his return “a pretty soft landing right there. It’s the most nervous I’ve ever been with an eight-run lead before. It was a great opportunity. I'm extremely grateful for these guys for giving me the opportunity, putting up the runs we did. I was told if we had a clean eighth, I’d get the ninth, so Yuki having a clean eighth was good for me.”
General manager AJ Preller was obviously pleased by the thought of Musgrove finally making his return.
“I don’t think any of us thought the next time we’d see him is potentially in this year’s playoffs,” Preller said before the game. “But it’s a good feeling to have somebody that we all trust, and then the amount of effort that he puts into his craft is real. I know at times there was some frustration from people, you know, ‘Why can’t Joe come back?’ It’s not for a lack of effort. I think I’ve seen him turn the corner the last couple of weeks and feel really good. We felt good about putting him on the roster and his chances to help us win a series.”
Now 33 years old, Musgrove made four rehab appearances in August, pitching up to five innings in Triple-A games. He said his postgame recoveries continued to be difficult, but Musgrove has been throwing in instructional league games this month, and the Padres liked what they saw in velocity, movement and arm recovery.
Once Musgrove looked good and recovered well after facing major league hitters in recent days, the Padres were ready to activate him.
“What we’ve seen from him the last week or 10 days has been very good, impressive,” Stammen said. “And I think the last thing we were just waiting on is his ability to recover after pitching to hitters, and he’s been able to do that. He’s been able to play catch every day, including the day after some of his outings. So great news for Joe that he’s finally feeling capable of handling a major league workload, and no better time to put him on the roster than now.”
Stammen and Preller didn't commit to a plan for using Musgrove, but he seems likely to be a reliever.
Musgrove made seven relief appearances while winning a World Series title with the Houston Astros in 2017 before he became a regular rotation member in Pittsburgh and San Diego.
“He’s going to be able to help us in any role,” Preller said. “It’s a short series, and he understands. We’ll see how Craig or (pitching coach) Ruben (Niebla) want to use him, but he’s going to be ready to go.”
San Diego chose Musgrove for its 11-man postseason pitching staff over several possible candidates, including dependable right-hander Randy Vásquez, lefty reliever Wandy Peralta, trade deadline acquisition Casey Mize and Griffin Canning.
Outfielder Miguel Andújar also was a surprising inclusion on the Padres’ roster. He hasn’t played since July 19 because of a broken wrist, but he took at-bats at Petco Park on Monday.
Ethan Salas, the Padres' 20-year-old catcher, made the Wild Card Series roster as expected. If Salas plays in this series, he will become the youngest catcher ever to appear in the MLB postseason.
Salas was called up Sept. 1, becoming the youngest player to catch a major league game since Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez in 1991. After a slow start, Salas finished the regular season with 10 hits in his last 24 at-bats, including several clutch hits.
