Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish had each made an early-season trip to the injured list. Now, both veteran starters are sidelined.
On Saturday, the San Diego Padres placed the two right-handers on the 15-day IL, citing a recurring injury for Musgrove (right elbow inflammation) and a left groin/hamstring strain for Darvish. Musgrove was scratched from his scheduled outing Saturday afternoon, with the Padres recalling Randy Vásquez to start against the Kansas City Royals and Logan Gillaspie to reinforce the bullpen. San Diego expects to call up another pitcher Tuesday to start against the Los Angeles Angels in place of Darvish.
Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters in Kansas City that Musgrove experienced discomfort in the back of his elbow at the end of his latest bullpen session. It was a familiar sensation for Musgrove, who spent 16 days on the IL last month because of elbow inflammation, an injury he attributed to triceps tendonitis.
“He’ll continue to get imaging. We have baselines with his elbow, and structurally we feel like everything’s good, but just the repetitiveness of that inflammation in the back of his elbow is just not quite letting him finish like he needs to finish his pitches,” Shildt said. “So, we’re gonna give him another break from it and get him back hopefully sooner than later, but we’ll get him back at an appropriate time.”
Darvish spent 15 days on the IL in April because of neck tightness. He exited a start Wednesday with left hamstring tightness and did not travel with the team to Kansas City. Shildt said Darvish, whose IL stint is retroactive to May 30, reported feeling better Saturday.
“But we know in those areas they can be tricky, and we want to make sure we get it behind him,” Shildt added. “Don’t think it’s anything long-term serious, which is obviously good, but it’s something that’s gonna require some rest.”
Darvish and Musgrove, when they can take the mound, remain two of the most reliable starters for an organization that is relatively thin on major-league-ready pitching depth. Darvish has a 3.20 ERA in 11 starts, and the Opening Day starter recently compiled a 25-inning scoreless streak, the longest of his career. Musgrove has a 5.66 ERA in 10 starts, but the 2022 All-Star had shown promising signs shortly before and after his previous IL stint.
Both pitchers entered the season with significant health concerns. Musgrove, 31, had his 2023 season effectively ended in July by right shoulder capsule inflammation. Darvish, 37, was shut down last September with a stress reaction and bone spur in his right elbow.
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Vásquez has a 5.82 ERA in five big-league starts this season. He has pitched to a 7.45 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but with Darvish and Musgrove both injured, the 25-year-old could get his longest look yet in the San Diego rotation. The Padres’ other healthy minor-league starter on the 40-man roster is Jackson Wolf, a soft-tossing lefty with a 6.69 ERA for El Paso.
The organization could instead turn Tuesday to right-hander Adam Mazur, who has a 3.86 ERA in 10 starts between El Paso and Double-A San Antonio; Mazur, who last pitched Thursday, would be lined up to start against the Angels. Two other notable prospects at San Antonio, Ryan Bergert and Robby Snelling, have 6.08 and 5.14 ERAs, respectively.
The Padres remain interested in such trade candidates as Miami’s Jesús Luzardo, and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller already has made one blockbuster deal with the Marlins, adding two-time batting champion Luis Arraez in early May. Luzardo could be more difficult to acquire for a team in San Diego’s position; the 26-year-old lefty is under club control through 2026, and the Padres surrendered much of their remaining prospect depth to land Arraez, who is hitting .398 with a .892 OPS since his arrival.
Still, Preller could be especially motivated to add a starter now that the health concerns surrounding Musgrove and Darvish have only increased. Vásquez continues to demonstrate plenty of growing pains, and Mazur, Bergert and Snelling have never pitched in the majors. In the meantime, the Padres do not seem inclined to ask for many more innings from their bullpen.
“It’s kind of hard to throw out a bullpen game and feel good about holding guys back before the game and then after the game,” Shildt said. “I feel like we’re in a position where we’ll probably look to something internally to fill those innings (Tuesday).”
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(Photo of Yu Darvish: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
