Padres roster review: Joe Musgrove – San Diego Union-Tribune
JOE MUSGROVE
Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 33
Height / Weight: 6-foot-5 / 230 pounds
How acquired: Via trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in January 2021
Contract status: Will make $20 million in the fourth year of a five-year, $100 million contract.
fWAR in 2025: 0.0
Key 2025 stats: Did not pitch — injured.
STAT TO NOTE
197 — The number of innings that Musgrove has thrown in the regular season since his five-year, $100 million extension kicked in at the start of the 2023 season. The first season had toe and shoulder woes bookend the year. Then elbow trouble dogged him in 2024 and ultimately forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery after his NL Wild Card Series start, wiping out the 2025 season entirely.
TRENDING
Idle — Acquired from the Pirates before the 2021 season for David Bednar and three prospects (Joey Lucchesi also went to the Mets in the three-team deal), Musgrove provided immediate value upon joining his hometown team. He threw the franchise’s first no-hitter his first year in San Diego, topped 180 inning in each of his first two seasons and was an All-Star in 2022. That prompted the Padres to lock up the El Cajon native to a five-year, $100 million deal and he continued to deliver that postseason, pitching his team past the Mets in the NL Wild Card Series and then the rival Dodgers in the NL Division Series. But injuries have dogged him ever since (see stat to note), though he did help push the team into the top wild-card spot at the end of an injury-riddled 2024 season and essentially pitched until his UCL gave out in the clinching NL Wild Card Series win over the Atlanta Braves that year. Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery before the Padres were eliminated from the NLDS in hopes of giving himself a chance to pitch in the following postseason. The Padres advanced back to the NL Wild Card Series in 2025 and Musgrove was throwing bullpens, but he was not ready to embark on a minor league rehab assignment, let alone come close to helping the team on the field. That said, Musgrove was a presence throughout the year and even went on most road trips as he aimed at providing whatever tutelage he could while on the injured list.
2026 OUTLOOK
The Padres would feel better about Musgrove’s prospects for the season had he been able to get into some kind of game action in 2025, however long those odds were. The hope is that being 16 months removed from his Tommy John surgery allows him to hit the ground running when camp opens in February, but he also hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings in a season since 2022, so it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from Musgrove coming off his elbow reconstruction.
San Diego, CA – December 2: San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove high fives students at Rodriguez Elementary School after they were given new Padres-branded bikes and helmets at an assembly at the school on December 2, 2025 in San Diego, CA. The Padres surprised nearly 100 second and third grade students with the bikes in conjunction with Bikes for Kids Foundation and the Padres Foundation’s Going to Bat for San Diego partnership with SDG&E. Members of the organization such as Chariman John Seidler, CEO Erik Greupner, Padres Foundation President Tom Seidler, alumnus Mark Loretta and broadcaster Mark Grant attended. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
ROSTER RANKINGS
13. RHP Joe Musgrove
14. RHP Randy Vasquez
15. OF Gavin Sheets
16. LHP JP Sears
17. RHP Yu Darvish
18. RHP Bradgley Rodriguez
19. RHP David Morgan
20. C Freddy Fermin
21. LHP Wandy Peralta
22. C Luis Campusano
23. LHP Yuki Matsui
24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP Matt Waldron
26. OF Bryce Johnson
27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
29. LHP Kyle Hart
30. RHP Jhony Brito
31. INF Will Wagner
32. OF Tirso Ornelas
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy
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