Joe Musgrove makes Padres’ Wild Card Series roster despite not pitching since 2024

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Veteran right-hander Joe Musgrove is on the San Diego Padres ‘ roster for their NL Wild Card Series nearly two full years after his most recent appearance in a major league game.

Musgrove was a surprise addition to manager Craig Stammen’s 26-man roster Tuesday before the Padres hosted the Chicago Cubs.

“We’re banking on him, and of all the guys in the clubhouse, he’s probably one of the top guys that you can trust,” Stammen said.

In a moment that thrilled the sellout crowd of 47,084 at Petco Park, Musgrove jogged in from the bullpen to start the ninth inning with the Padres leading 8-0. He struck out Michael Busch on three pitches. But he then loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, prompting a visit from pitching coach Ruben Niebla.

The big right-hander from suburban El Cajon got Pedro Ramírez to pop out to second base and then punched out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto to seal the shutout victory that gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the series.

Musgrove pumped his fist and hugged catcher Luis Campusano and his other teammates.

Musgrove hasn’t played for his hometown team since Oct. 2, 2024, when he left the Padres’ clinching Wild Card Series victory over Atlanta with a right elbow injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2025 season, and he subsequently missed the entire 2026 regular season when his recovery progressed much more slowly than expected.

General manager AJ Preller was obviously pleased by the thought of Musgrove finally making his return.

“I don’t think any of us thought the next time we’d see him is potentially in this year’s playoffs,” Preller said. “But it’s a good feeling to have somebody that we all trust, and then the amount of effort that he puts into his craft is real. I know at times there was some frustration from people, you know, ‘Why can’t Joe come back?’ It’s not for a lack of effort. I think I’ve seen him turn the corner the last couple of weeks and feel really good. We felt good about putting him on the roster and his chances to help us win a series.”

Now 33 years old, Musgrove made four rehab appearances in August, pitching up to five innings in Triple-A games. He said his postgame recoveries continued to be difficult, but Musgrove has been throwing in instructional league games this month, and the Padres liked what they saw in velocity, movement and arm recovery.

Once Musgrove looked good and recovered well after facing major league hitters in recent days, the Padres were ready to activate him.

“What we’ve seen from him the last week or 10 days has been very good, impressive,” Stammen said. “And I think the last thing we were just waiting on is his ability to recover after pitching to hitters, and he’s been able to do that. He’s been able to play catch every day, including the day after some of his outings. So great news for Joe that he’s finally feeling capable of handling a major league workload, and no better time to put him on the roster than now.”

Stammen and Preller didn’t commit to a plan for using Musgrove, but he seems likely to be a reliever if he appears in the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Michael King is starting the series opener, and Nick Pivetta will start Game 2 for San Diego.

Musgrove made seven relief appearances while winning a World Series title with the Houston Astros in 2017 before he became a regular rotation member in Pittsburgh and San Diego.

“He’s going to be able to help us in any role,” Preller said. “It’s a short series, and he understands. We’ll see how Craig or (pitching coach) Ruben (Niebla) want to use him, but he’s going to be ready to go.”

San Diego chose Musgrove for its 11-man postseason pitching staff over several possible candidates, including dependable right-hander Randy Vásquez, lefty reliever Wandy Peralta, trade deadline acquisition Casey Mize and Griffin Canning.

Outfielder Miguel Andújar also was a surprising inclusion on the Padres’ roster. He hasn’t played since July 19 because of a broken wrist, but he took at-bats at Petco Park on Monday.

Ethan Salas, the Padres’ 20-year-old catcher, made the Wild Card Series roster as expected. If Salas plays in this series, he will become the youngest catcher ever to appear in the MLB postseason.

Salas was called up Sept. 1, becoming the youngest player to catch a major league game since Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez in 1991. After a slow start, Salas finished the regular season with 10 hits in his last 24 at-bats, including several clutch hits.

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