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Joe Musgrove touched 97 mph in his second rehab start on Triple-A El Paso.
Doing so in front of a sellout crowd 47,084 in Game 1 of a postseason win was quite a bit different.
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Especially given all that occurred between that mid-August appearance and an 8-0 win over the Cubs on Tuesday night, and really over the last two years.
“It’s humbling to see the ovation that I got tonight,” Musgrove said after striking out two and leaving the bases loaded in the ninth in his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2024. “It’s been really hard for me to sit back and, you know, with the contract and all, and not pitch for two years. I’ve done everything in my power to get back on the mound, and it just hasn’t gone my way. But to still be welcomed back like that and give me that boost in the ninth was huge.”
A 13-hit attack on top of Michael King’s dominant start set the stage for as soft a landing spot as you could expect in a postseason game.
Yuki Matsui followed King’s seven-inning gem with a clean eighth inning, clearing the runway for Musgrove to warm up for his first appearance since exiting his 2024 NL Wild Card Series start with the elbow injury that ultimately required surgery.
Meeting the moment, Musgrove began his at-bat with Michael Busch with a 96 mph strike to begin a three-pitch punchout.
Musgrove then hit 97 mph on the gun before giving up an 0-1 single to Seiya Suzuki. Ian Happ walked and a single from Nico Hoerner loaded the bases, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Ruben Niebla.
That apparently locked Musgrove back in as he fetched a pop-up from Pedro Ramirez and punched out Michael Conforto looking at an 83 mph curve at the top of the zone to win a six-pitch battle and cap a cinematic return to a big-league mound.
“It was amazing, man,” Musgrove said. “I’m sure coming back in any scenario would feel good, but to come back in a playoff situation with the crowd the way they were tonight at home, yeah, that’s perfect.”
Musgrove’s return was the latest chapter in a two-year, stop-and-go adventure following his elbow reconstruction.
He’d been hoping to pitch in the postseason last year only for the Padres to be eliminated by the Cubs in the opening round. He had a setback after his first exhibition in spring training, took nearly two weeks to get back on the mound after hitting 97 in that Triple-A El Paso game in mid-August and – with cartilage missing in his elbow – was having trouble recovering between appearances.
Then he turned a corner in late September after his focus shifted to pitching in shorter bursts and he was a surprise add to the NL Wild Card Series roster on Tuesday morning.
Needless to say, the return of the El Cajon native sent a jolt of energy through the clubhouse as the Padres prepared to host their first postseason game.
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“It brings so much energy to the ballclub,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said hours before homering on the first pitch of the game. “Everybody knows how he goes about his business and how he takes care of himself and the challenge that he has been through, and being able to have success on his life and bouncing back and feeling healthy has just (given) the boys way more energy. If somebody can do it in that style, it’s definitely that guy.”
Pivetta’s next step
Musgrove wasn’t the only Padre who had trouble with his rehab.
He and Nick Pivetta (flexor) started their paths back to the big leagues on the same day in early August at Lake Elsinore. Pivetta walked off the mound that day with elbow discomfort and didn’t get back into a game for three weeks.
Pivetta resumed his rehab assignment on Aug. 25 with Lake Elsinore, made one start for El Paso and then began a four-start march toward the postseason on Sept. 7.
On Wednesday, Pivetta will start Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series. He earned the start by recording a 1.45 ERA and an 18-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 18⅔ innings since coming off the injured list.
“I’m just trying to go day by day,” Pivetta said. “I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten lucky, but I think the fact that I’ve been able to pick it up where I left off last year versus where I started the beginning of the year, just feeling healthy. I think we’re just rolling with something that’s really special, and I’m kind of just going to stay in that mode. I can’t tell you why it’s kind of grooving right now. All I can say is I’m healthy, I’m feeling good and I’m excited for the next step.”
Merrill fondness
After penning a 40-40 season, Pete Crow-Armstrong is a strong favorite to win his first NL MVP. He could also win a second straight Gold Glove after leading all center fielders with 25 outs above average, according to Statcast.
So Crow-Armstrong knows a thing or two about center-field play, and he’s become a fan of Jackson Merrill and what he’s accomplished while essentially learning the position in the big leagues.
“What I’m most impressed by is he has become a premier center fielder defensively after having little to no experience, from my understanding, playing that position throughout the minor leagues,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Anybody that’s able to get thrown into a position in spring training; like it was a few springs ago that he got put in center. He just ended up displaying how much of an athlete he is. He’s just an electric, dynamic force, so I’m a big fan of his. I think he knows that, but yeah, I love getting to compete against him and share the field with him, really.
“I mean, he’s good people.”
Merrill ranked 16th among center fielders this year with six outs above average. He was 30th last year (three) and seventh in 2024 (12), when he finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
’27 outs’
Cubs manager Craig Counsell declined to name a starter for Game 2. If the series extends to Thursday, expect him to do the same thing
The Cubs put 12 pitchers on their postseason roster – eight right-handers and four left-handers – and all of them except Tuesday starter Matthew Boyd will be available at any point for Game 2 or an if-necessary Game 3.
“We just got to figure out how to get 27 outs, and the order that that happens – starter, reliever, closer, setup man – those words don’t matter,” Counsell said. “We’re just trying to get 27 outs.”
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This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 7:21 PM.