Joseph Musgrove: Everything you need to know

Musgrove (elbow) remains limited to playing catch during his throwing program and hasn't yet been cleared for bullpen sessions, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Musgrove entered spring training with no limitations after completing his recovery from October 2024 Tommy John surgery, but he pitched in just one exhibition game before experiencing renewed soreness in his surgically repaired elbow. Though the fact that Musgrove hasn't been shut down from throwing since suffering his setback can be taken as an encouraging sign, the veteran right-hander is progressing slowly and is without an official timeline to make his season debut. At the very least, Musgrove will remain on the shelf through the end of April, and he'll have several checkpoints to hit in the recovery process before a potential return date comes into focus.

Musgrove (elbow) has resumed playing catch, but he doesn't have a definitive timeline to rejoin the Padres' rotation, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union Tribune reports. Musgrove threw 60 pitches in an exhibition game against Great Britain on March 4, but he was subsequently pulled back from throwing and hasn't tossed from a mound since. Following the setback, the right-hander underwent a precautionary MRI, but the imaging didn't show any new concerns. Considering that he hasn't pitched in a big-league game since undergoing Tommy John surgery in October of 2024, Musgrove will almost certainly need to clear multiple hurdles -- including a resumption of bullpen sessions, throwing to live hitters and taking part in a minor-league rehab stint -- before San Diego activates him off the IL. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller suggested this week that Musgrove's timeframe to make his season debut is hazy, saying, "We're not going to really know until he gets through days like today, where he starts to play catch and he puts some volume on what he's doing and he starts to build up innings and we're seeing the bounce-back. So it's not like next week he's coming back. But this isn't something either where we're talking about months. We'll know a lot more here over the course of the next week to 10 days, how he starts bouncing back from these early throwing sessions."

San Diego placed Musgrove (elbow) on the 15-day injured list Wednesday. Musgrove had an outside chance of making the Padres' Opening Day roster after sitting out for the entire 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in October of 2024. His placement on the IL means he'll need more time to ramp up, and the earliest he can make his return to the majors is mid-April. Walker Buehler's contract was selected to the Padres' major-league roster in a corresponding move, and he will work out of the rotation for as long as Musgrove is sidelined.