PEORIA, Ariz. — Relief pitcher Bryan Hoeing will miss the 2025 season after electing to undergo surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right arm.

Camp began with the expectation Hoeing would return to the bullpen after a 2025 season largely spent working through shoulder and elbow issues. But he was shut down late last month after feeling discomfort in his elbow.

“It’s a bummer,” manager Craig Stammen said. “Because he’s someone that could have really been a big part of our bullpen, filled a lot of different roles, similar to what we saw from him in 2024 and the playoffs, and just how much better he made our team, our bullpen, how well he fit in. We really felt like we had an ace in the hole with him in the pen.”

Hoeing was acquired from the Marlins at the 2024 trade deadline and put up a 1.52 ERA over 23⅔ innings in 18 appearances. He made just one appearance for the Padres last season and pitched 18⅔ innings in the minor leagues.

Logan Gillaspie and left-handers Kyle Hart and Jackson Wolf are competing for the “bridge” reliever role Hoeing would have filled, being called on in different middle innings to face anywhere from one batter to nine.

Recovery time for MLB pitchers after flexor tendon surgery is typically about nine months for a return to the mound.

Musgrove still holding

Every day that passes with nothing new makes it more likely Joe Musgrove likely will not begin the season on the Padres’ roster.

And that is not anywhere near the top of Stammen’s list of concerns.

“Probably the last thing we’re worried about is if he’s making the first turn through the rotation,” Stammen said. “Obviously, in the perfect world, he makes 35 starts for us. That’s not realistic. I think we’re just not rushing anything, being smart about it.”

Musgrove, who had Tommy John surgery in October 2024 and did not pitch last season, has thrown one time in the bullpen since his first start in an exhibition game on March 4. While virtually everything — velocity, pitch shape — was considered a plus in that game, Musgrove’s arm did not recover optimally and the Padres have decided to give him a rest.

They had been clear for months this was a possibility. They did not know when the rest was going to occur, but they knew it was going to happen.

“It’s (a step) back to move forward,” pitching coach Ruben Niebla said earlier in the week. “It might not be the last time we do it.”

Stammen referred to the current situation as a “holding pattern” and a “pause” and reiterated the goal is to have Musgrove healthy throughout the season.

“Waiting to kind of get over that hump, feel a little bit better before we start doing anything out on the field,”  Stammen said. “But still in a good spot, still something we knew was going to happen, had to prepare for. We’ve got his best interest in mind.”

That leaves two spots to be won in the rotation at the start of the season. Walker Buehler, Marco Gonzales, Triston McKenzie, Germán Márquez and JP Sears are ostensibly competing for those jobs. Multiple sources have indicated Buehler and Márquez are the favorites.

Notable

Sung-Mun Song said he expected to take some swings Thursday for the first time since leaving Sunday’s game with discomfort in his right oblique. Song, who was headed toward being the Padres’ extra infielder, could begin the season on the injured list.
Left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui, out since mid-February with an adductor (groin) strain, is scheduled to throw one more bullpen before facing hitters. That would not seem to give him enough time to be ready for opening day.
Infielder Will Wagner will almost certainly begin the season on the injured list. He suffered an oblique strain and has not played or done any baseball activity since the beginning of March.
Yu Darvish, who will miss at least the 2026 season after major elbow surgery, stopped by the Peoria Sports Complex on Tuesday en route to Miami to watch Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. He is expected to visit camp again after the WBC.