Joe Musgrove gave the Padres another encouraging sign on Thursday, and the next step now sits in San Diego’s hands.
According to Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru of MLB.com, Musgrove turned in a sharp rehab start for Triple-A El Paso, working five economical innings and allowing one run on five hits before being lifted. He threw 60 pitches, and 42 of them went for strikes.
That workload matters. The Padres have been deliberate with Musgrove’s ramp-up, especially after he tweaked his back in his previous rehab outing on Aug. 14, when he was stretched to 70 pitches. That setback led to a 13-day pause, which naturally makes the club cautious about asking for too much too soon.
Thursday’s outing, though, at least keeps the door open. If San Diego opts for another rehab start, Musgrove could be lined up for 75-80 pitches next time out. The other path is activation, though that does not appear to be the likeliest move at the moment.
The timing is awkward for a Padres rotation that has already been reshuffled at the deadline. San Diego brought in Casey Mize and Robbie Ray to help patch up a thin staff, but the results have been uneven.
Mize injured himself going down the dugout steps early last week, then had a rough night that included a key error in a 9-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Ray has been better, but the club is still scuffling in Tampa after dropping a 7-6 game today, a loss that pushed them out of the third wild-card spot for now.
The idea was to steady the group with more pitching. Instead, the last week against the Pittsburgh Pirates and this week against the Rays has brought more turbulence.
San Diego does not have much time to sort it out. September is only days away, and the Padres can’t afford another flat stretch.
Musgrove could be part of the fix, and Nick Pivetta may also be waiting in the wings after his successful rehab start. For now, though, the Padres have several pieces to line up and not much room to linger.
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