MIAMI — Joe Musgrove returns on Monday night.
The Padres believe they have seen enough over the past few weeks to be confident he will give them what he always has, albeit on a pitch limit at first.
“A dog,” pitching coach Ruben Niebla said of what he expects from Musgrove’s first big-league start since May 26. “The same as usual.”
But Musgrove will also be a little different.
Through work done over the course of his 77 days sidelined by elbow issues, including bone spurs, Musgrove has altered his delivery to get more out of his legs and alleviate stress on his arm.
“Body movements have changed a little bit,” Musgrove said. “I think when you look on video, it doesn’t look that drastic, or if you watch it with the naked eye. But I think you’ll see in the stuff that I come with tomorrow that I am moving a little better and that the stuff’s coming out better. … It feels drastically different to me. It doesn’t probably look a whole lot different, but it feels very different to me.”
Musgrove, who has been throwing with more velocity than usual in his bullpen sessions and his rehab start, spent a lot of time working on flexibility and the way he rotates his body while on the injured list.
“Something about the way I’m throwing the ball (was) causing the issue (in the elbow), whether it’s the bone spur or something else,” he said. “The spur is going to be there, the structure of the elbow is not going to change unless I get an operation. So trying to find a way to be able to throw and still execute and still have good stuff. Hopefully it will alleviate some of the stress on the elbow is kind of the goal. And I feel like we’ve done that. I felt great in this build back.”
Musgrove, who also spent two weeks on the IL in April, has a 5.66 ERA in 10 starts this season. His 3.05 ERA from 2021 was sixth best in the major leagues among pitchers who threw at least 400 innings.
He is expected to be limited to 60 pitches or so Monday at Petco Park against the Pirates after throwing 43 pitches in his lone rehab start on Aug. 4.
“I’m in a really good place,” he said. “It’s been difficult to sit by for this long. But I understand where I was with the injury, where the team was at the time, and where I could bring the most value, and that’s getting healthy and being able to pitch down the stretch. So it was a tough decision to go into it, but once we were in it, we had a very clear idea of what we wanted it to look like and when we wanted to be back, and everything’s pretty much gone to play. And so I feel like I’m as ready as I’ve ever been. Physically. I feel great. My Stuff feels great. Just ready to go out there and compete.”