The San Diego Padres completed their sweep of the Atlanta Braves, advancing to the NLDS in the process. However, the victory came at a cost as starting pitcher Joe Musgrove left the game early after experiencing discomfort in his elbow.
After throwing a pair of slower than usual curveballs to Matt Olson, Manager Mike Shildt and the team’s training staff came out to check in on the 6’5″ righty. While Musgrove lobbied to stay in the game, cooler heads prevailed and he was ultimately lifted for precautionary reasons.
Up 5-1 at the time, San Diego would hang on to win the clinching game 5-4 after Atlanta plated a pair of runs in the 8th inning to make things interesting late. With the victory, the Padres will now face their NL West rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, but may need to rethink their rotation heading into Saturday’s series opener.
“He said he would do everything he can, which I wouldn’t put nothing past Joe Musgrove to come back,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after the game. “But something didn’t feel right in his elbow. Structurally they feel like he’s OK, but we’ll get more evaluation as we go.”
“If you’re not a pitcher, it’s very difficult to explain. I just had a hard time getting to full extension and letting pitches go,” Musgrove said told reporters. “There wasn’t a whole lot of confidence behind it. I had two outs in the inning. I was hoping to be able to get through the inning and then address it in between, but I didn’t make it to that point.”
The injury isn’t anything new to Musgrove, who has battled right-elbow inflammation and soreness for much of the season. A pair of trips to the injured list ultimately ended up costing him 63 games this year as the former Pirate’s throwing arm has been a source of frustration for the towering righty.
Initial scans showed no structural damage to Musgrove’s elbow, though the club will continue to monitor it over the coming days before making any decisions as to whether or not the RHP will make another postseason start.
As it currently stands, Los Angeles looks to be starting Jack Flaherty for Game 1 before turning the ball over to Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Game 2. San Diego has yet to confirm their starters, but odds are they will turn to Dylan Cease for Game 1.
Over their last 49 meetings, LA holds a 29-20 advantage over their instate foes. However, in two postseason meetings, the clubs have split their series at 1 win a piece.
First pitch for Game 1 will be at 8:38pm ET on Saturday, October 5th.
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication