Joe Musgrove acknowledged Thursday’s opening day-record crowd of 45,673 from the Petco Park bullpen, where he was posted up with the rest of the starting pitchers while Nick Pivetta warmed during introductions.
Musgrove’s own modest work had already been completed for the day as he finally got back to playing catch for the first time since the Padres’ March 4 exhibition against Great Britain.
Musgrove remains without a timeline to return to the Padres’ rotation, but a small step forward was viewed as progress as he pushes past his spring training setback.
“I didn’t feel quite as good throughout the buildup of the offseason,” Musgrove said Thursday morning. “Nothing that prohibited me from throwing. Just not feeling as free and consistent during the throwing, and then the recovery stuff was a little more difficult. And again, I kind of chalked that up to just the process of building back up, and was hoping to hit that stride and break through and start feeling better and just never really came.
“So it’s important to address it now, instead of forcing my way in at the start of the season and missing a bigger chunk of time.”
For precautionary reasons, Musgrove underwent an MRI a couple of weeks ago. The imaging did not reveal any new concerns.
“I mean, you look at an MRI after Tommy John and it never looks great,” Musgrove said. “There’s always the idea of looking at something and finding something that you don’t feel. … So I personally haven’t even looked at the image. I just told them, like, ‘Tell me what’s wrong. If there’s something serious, we’ll address it. If not, I don’t even want to see it.’ So I feel physically good right now, and I’m heading in the right direction.”
Musgrove will have to progress to throwing off a mound to bullpens to live batting practice to likely minor league rehab games before the Padres can think about activating him.
“It’s not like he’s been down for six to eight weeks, so hopefully he can get going here,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said. “But we’re not going to really know until he gets through days like today, where he starts to play catch and he puts some volume on what he’s doing and he starts to build up innings and we’re seeing the bounce-back.
“So it’s not like next week he’s coming back. But this isn’t something either where we’re talking about months. We’ll know a lot more here over the course of the next week to 10 days, how he starts bouncing back from these early throwing sessions.
“You know he’s gonna put the work in, for sure. So we’re hoping it’s sooner rather than later.”
Complimenting Darvish
The decision to place Yu Darvish on the restricted list evolved out of the 39-year-old’s wish to rehab his second elbow reconstruction on his own timeline — and away from the team more than normal — as well as a desire to leave the team in a good spot financially while he’s unable to pitch.
It’s not the first time that Darvish has put the Padres first. It was his decision to go on the restricted list while he dealt with a personal matter and an injury for an extended period of the 2024 season.
“Yu Darvish is a very special person, very special player, very unique,” Preller said. “His situation is unique. Somebody that’s thinking about the good of the organization, the team, the fan base, wanting to get back. And if you can’t put your heart into it, it would be very easy for him just to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to sit on the IL.’ And what that means for him from a compensation standpoint. He’s not doing that. He knows that his heart’s not quite into it. He’s going to continue with the rehab process and maybe we get to next year and he’s feeling in a different place and he wants to come back and give it a go.”
Darvish is owed $46 million through the 2028 season, including $15 million this year, but he will not be collecting a paycheck while on the restricted list.
Darvish has also said he is not yet making a decision about retirement.
A representative from the Major League Baseball Players Association said the union had no comment on Darvish’s status.
ABS debuts
There was little on the line by the time Major League Baseball’s new automated ball-strike system made its Petco Park debut with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. The Tigers were up 8-0 when plate umpire Alfonso Márquez called an 0-1, outside fastball from Ron Marinaccio a strike.
Veteran Javier Baez tapped his helmet to trigger a challenge and an ABS review of the pitch was quickly displayed on the Petco Park video board. The pitch was 1.3 inches off the plate.
The call was promptly overturned and Baez lined the next pitch into center field for a single.
It stood as the lone challenge in the game, supporting a claim that became common throughout spring training as the Padres got used to ABS.
“I learned that the umpires are pretty good,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said, “and they’ve got a good handle on the strike zone.”
Nick Castellanos #21 of the San Diego Padres pops out against the Detroit Tigers on opening day at Petco Park on March 26, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Home sweet home
Nick Castellanos popped out of the home dugout on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the team’s first workout at Petco Park and immediately began to play catch with his son Liam.
For Castellanos, the low-70s temperatures were a welcome change after spending the last week in 100-degree Arizona heat – and his previous Aprils bundling up for home games in Detroit, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be great not have to break out all the cold-weather gear and face masks and things like that,” he said.
Notable
Before the game, the team held a moment of silence for Padres Hall-of-Fame pitcher Randy Jones, who died in November at age 75. His daughter Staci, flanked by wife Marie and daughter Jami, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.