MLB didn’t wait until the end of the first week of spring training to give us the first weird injury of the season, and it involves a San Diego Padres All-Star.
Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove has been sidelined with a fractured left big toe after dropping a kettlebell on it in the team’s weight room, according to MLB.com’s A.J. Cassavell.
Padres manager Bob Melvin didn’t provide a specific timetable for Musgrove’s return when speaking with reporters after the news was announced, but did add that it will be at least two weeks before Musgrove starters throwing again:
It’s going to be a minimum of two weeks before he starts throwing again, so we’ll see. It’s kinda tough to forecast when you have a broken toe. It’s going to be more about how it heals and certainly if it’s a pain tolerance thing, Joe would be one of those guys who would be sooner than later, but obviously we have to evaluate how he’s feeling every day and we’ll see where we go.
Melvin later confirmed it would take at least two weeks after Musgrove starts throwing for him to be ready for a return, which would put his opening day readiness into serious doubt.
Joe Musgrove has been the Padres’ best pitcher over the last 2 seasons
Losing Musgrove would be a tough blow for the Padres, who have counted the right-hander as their steadiness presence on the mound since acquiring him in a trade two years ago. In two seasons, the 30-year-old San Diego area native holds a 3.06 ERA in 362.1 innings with 387 strikeouts, a 3.64 FIP and 1.082 WHIP. He earned his first career All-Star nod last year.
The Padres rewarded that performance with a five-year, $100 million extension last year that goes into effect this season.
Losing Musgrove might not mean a huge shakeup for the Padres rotation, though, as the team had been hoping to start the season with a six-man rotation of Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Michael Wacha, Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo. Now, they’ll probably just roll out the latter five pitchers and hope Musgrove returns soon.
Musgrove’s injury also wasn’t the worst news for an NL West contender on Tuesday, as the reigning division champion Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed starting shortstop Gavin Lux to be out for the season with a torn ACL.