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Walker Buehler smiled widely and quickly removed himself from the end of his postgame availability late Saturday night. The hero in a walk-off win, Jake Cronenworth had done the same moments earlier.
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The Padres and most of Major League Baseball had expected the biggest impact arm (Tarik Skubal) to land with the game’s biggest spenders.
A day later, Joe Musgrove gave oxygen to what others preferred to leave unsaid in the immediate aftermath of the Dodgers’ big move.
Of course, the Dodgers were going to land the most coveted arm.
The Padres’ concern is adding at least two arms – Musgrove and Nick Pivetta – to whatever A.J. Preller puts together ahead of Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.
“We haven’t made our moves yet,” Musgrove said Sunday morning. “Our team’s starting to come together at the right time. We’re getting healthier. Hopefully we get myself and Nick back, Jason (Adam) at some point. David Morgan’s right on the horizon of coming back. I think we’re going to fill out as a team, and I think some of these roles will start to get clearer as we go and get some of these arms back, get back to somewhat of a normal rotation, try to take some pressure off the bullpen and keep those guys fresh. Our team could look very different in the next 48 hours.
“Everyone’s up against it with the Dodgers’ roster to begin with, so it’s nothing new to us.”
The Padres know this as well as anyone.
They haven’t finished better than second in the NL West since first qualifying for the postseason under Preller in 2020. They were swept out of the NLDS by the Dodgers that year. They went 24 innings without scoring a run in losing their grip on their 2024 NLDS matchup with Los Angeles. They blitzed right through them in 2022 en route to advancing to the NLCS.
None of those series were decided by one player, however extraneous that player seems to a 69-win team still waiting on significant contributions from Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow this year.
“Again, the playoffs are a one-series thing,” Musgrove said. “You can have the best roster, but you’ve got to be really sharp and you’ve got to be clicking at the right time. Anything can happen in those short three-, five- or seven-game series. Have one good week of baseball. … and that’s all it takes.
“So it’s not really a surprise to anybody here. I don’t think anybody feels defeated by it.”
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Musgrove’s real concern is his next step.
A day after throwing bullpens at Petco Park, both he and Pivetta will make their first rehab appearances – one after the other – on Tuesday at low Single-A Lake Elsinore.
The expectation is that both will be back in the Padres rotation by Aug. 22, the date tied to an injury stipulation (130 consecutive days on the injured list) that would allow the Padres to turn Pivetta’s $14 million player option into a team option for 2027.
Pivetta’s flexor strain has sidelined him since April 12. Musgrove hasn’t pitched in a game since requiring Tommy John surgery after making his start in the 2024 NL Wild Card Series against the Braves.
“Very excited for it,” Musgrove said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs, times where I thought I was getting really close and we had to pull back a little bit. But this is the best I’ve felt in a long time. Consistent recovery. Feel like I’m finally able to start working on pitches and getting in more of competition mode on the mound, as opposed to just trying to get through it without pain. So I feel like I’m progressing with my pitches.
“My stuff is getting better every time out. Feel really good.”
Another rotation curve
The Padres were already assured of at least a series split with the Giants when they opted to start left-hander Kyle Hart on Sunday against a Giants lineup that on Sunday had six left-handed hitters in the lineup.
That pushed Michael King back a day to face the Diamondbacks on Monday for the start of a key four-game series in Arizona. King was given a heads up of the possibility of the switch on Saturday, but it was also something he’d clearly thought about.
The Diamondbacks began Sunday two games ahead of the Padres in the NL wild-card race, and head-to-head matchups represent two-game swings.
“We obviously know the Diamondbacks are ahead of us in the standings,” King said. “I was almost looking at this like a week ago, that I knew I wasn’t lined up to pitch against them. So when I was given the opportunity to pitch against them and potentially help us in the playoff hunt, I’d like to do that.”
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Notable
- The Padres have signed RHP J.P. France, 31, to a minor league deal. France won 11 games (3.83 ERA, 136 ⅓ IP) for the Astros in 2023, but has thrown 36 innings (7.00 ERA) since then in the majors, including allowing six runs in 6⅔ innings this year. France had a 3.72 ERA in 36 ⅓ innings mostly as a reliever at Triple-A Sugar Land this year ahead of this week’s release.
- Morgan (knee) threw 12 of 15 pitches for strikes while starting a rehab assignment on Sunday with Triple-A El Paso. He topped out at 97.9 mph, allowed a single and didn’t walk or strike out anyone.
Annie Heilbrunn contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published August 2, 2026 at 3:20 PM.