San Diego Padres’ pitcher Joe Musgrove suffered a major setback on Friday, when the team announced that he would need Tommy John surgery to fix a tear in his pitching elbow. This injury will keep him out for the entire 2025 season, putting a dent in the Padres’ World Series ambitions. Musgrove’s injury first came to light during Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series when he experienced tightness in his elbow. After a few pitches that didn’t feel right, he left the game, and an MRI later confirmed the worst.
“I’m devastated about not being able to finish what we started,” Musgrove said from the Padres’ dugout. His disappointment was clear, knowing that this surgery marks a tough break in his career.
The Padres’ president of baseball operations, A.J. Preller, explained that Musgrove’s injury involves the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), and the typical recovery time from Tommy John surgery ranges from 12 to 18 months. Musgrove is now in the process of finding a surgeon and talking to teammates who have had similar procedures.
Tommy John surgery involves replacing a damaged or torn ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow with a tendon taken from elsewhere in the patient’s body or from a donor. The surgery was named after Dodgers pitcher Tommy John, who was the first to undergo the procedure in 1974, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe.
“I gave the procedure about a one in 100 chance of working at the time,” Dr. Jobe once said. Tommy John, however, returned to pitching just two years later, making it a groundbreaking surgery in baseball. Today, it’s a common procedure that allows many pitchers to continue their careers after what was once a career-ending injury.
Recovering from Tommy John surgery isn’t quick. Most athletes need at least nine months, but full recovery could take up to 18 months, depending on the person. The first few weeks post-surgery require wearing a hinged brace to help slowly restore range of motion, and after that, a long period of rehab and strengthening begins.
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Joe Musgrove is currently 31 years old. Before his injury, he was in peak form, boasting a 2.15 ERA and racking up 57 strikeouts over his last nine regular-season starts. He felt confident heading into the postseason, but the tightness in his elbow came out of nowhere during the NL Wild Card Series. Unfortunately, that discomfort turned out to be more serious than he first realized.
At the moment, the Padres haven’t officially named a replacement for Musgrove in the rotation, but Martín Pérez seems like the most likely candidate. Manager Mike Shildt has already set Dylan Cease for Game 1 and Yu Darvish for Game 2. When the series moves to San Diego for Game 3, Michael King is expected to take the mound.
“Replacing Joe Musgrove is a tall order,” Shildt admitted. “Joe is Joe. He’s a presence on the mound. But we’ve got a deep group of pitchers, and we’ll compete. He’ll be with us in spirit, even if not on the mound.”
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Picture Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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