Joe Musgrove Returns From Elbow Surgery to Seal Padres' Wild Card Win
- 🔑 Joe Musgrove pitched in a Major League game for the first time since October 2, 2024, entering in relief for the 9th inning of the Padres’ 8-0 win over the Cubs in Game 1 of the 2026 NL Wild Card Series on September 29 at Petco Park, striking out two batters to close it out.
- Musgrove hadn’t appeared in a big-league game since injuring his right elbow during the Padres’ 2024 postseason run; he was diagnosed with a torn UCL and had Tommy John surgery, which cost him the entire 2025 season and kept him in rehab well into 2026, including a procedural 60-day injured list transfer in May.
- Game 1 also featured a near no-hitter: starter Michael King carried a no-hit bid into the 7th inning, and home runs from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado padded the lead before Musgrove closed out the 9th, leaving the Padres ahead 1-0 in the best-of-three series over the Cubs.
- The Padres added Musgrove to their Wild Card Series roster as a bullpen arm, and his Game 1 outing was a relief appearance, not a start; neither the team nor Musgrove has said he is ticketed for a starting role later in the postseason, and this piece does not forecast one.
- The series was still undecided as this was published: the Padres led 1-0, with Game 2 set for the evening of September 30 at Petco Park (Nick Pivetta, himself back from his own elbow injury, against Kevin Gausman) and a possible Game 3 on October 1 if the Cubs won Game 2.
- No betting odds, point spreads, moneylines, or win-probability models appear anywhere in this report — only confirmed results, roster facts and injury timelines as reported by the team and cross-checked across independent sports-news sources at the time of publication.
Joe Musgrove pitched in a big-league game for the first time in nearly two years on September 29, 2026, throwing a scoreless 9th inning to close out the San Diego Padres’ 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series at Petco Park. The right-hander’s return came almost two years to the day after the elbow injury that ended his 2024 postseason and led to Tommy John surgery. Here’s what happened in the outing, and what it does and doesn’t tell us about his role the rest of the way.
What did Joe Musgrove do in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series?
Musgrove entered with the Padres already ahead 8-0 and retired the side in order in the 9th, striking out Cubs hitters Michael Busch and Michael Conforto without issuing a walk. It was his first Major League appearance since October 2, 2024. Statcast tracked one of his pitches, a curveball, at 85.2 mph. Musgrove described the moment as emotional, telling reporters afterward, “That’s the most nervous I’ve been with an eight-run lead before.” Starter Michael King, who had carried a no-hit bid into the 7th inning before handing the ball to the bullpen, came back out to the field to watch Musgrove warm up — something King said he doesn’t normally do once he’s out of a game. Home runs from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado had built the Padres’ cushion earlier in the night.
What injury kept Joe Musgrove out for nearly two years?
Musgrove hurt his right elbow during the Padres’ 2024 playoff run, was diagnosed with a torn UCL, and underwent Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2025 season. His rehab stretched deep into 2026; team transaction records show a procedural move transferring him to the 60-day injured list in May 2026, consistent with an extended recovery timeline, before he was activated and added to the Padres’ 26-man roster for the best-of-three Wild Card Series against the Cubs.
Will Joe Musgrove start a game later in the postseason?
There’s no indication of that yet — the Padres added him to the Wild Card roster as a bullpen arm, and his Game 1 outing was a relief appearance, not a start. Neither the team nor Musgrove has said publicly that he’s in line for a starting assignment in a Division Series or beyond. That would depend on how San Diego’s pitching needs shake out if the club advances, and it isn’t confirmed at this point, so we’re not forecasting it.
What’s next for the Padres in the Wild Card Series?
The series stood 1-0 in the Padres’ favor after Game 1, with Game 2 scheduled for the evening of September 30, 2026, at Petco Park. San Diego turned to Nick Pivetta — back from a right elbow flexor strain that had sidelined him for much of the 2026 season — against Cubs right-hander Kevin Gausman. Should Chicago force a Game 3, it was set for October 1, also at Petco Park. As a best-of-three round, the series ends as soon as either club wins two games.
| Game | Status |
|---|---|
| Game 1 (Sept 29) | Padres 8, Cubs 0 |
| Game 2 (Sept 30) | Pivetta vs. Gausman |
| Game 3 (Oct 1) | If necessary |
The bottom line
Musgrove’s return is a finished chapter on its own: a pitcher who spent the better part of two years rehabbing a surgically repaired elbow got to throw a playoff inning in front of his home crowd. What it means for how the Padres use him if the series continues is still an open question, not one this piece is answering in advance. For the full picture of how every 2026 Wild Card matchup is playing out and how the rest of the bracket is scheduled, see our 2026 MLB playoffs bracket and schedule guide .
How we verified this
Musgrove’s Game 1 line — a scoreless 9th inning with two strikeouts (Michael Busch and Michael Conforto), no walks — was checked against the team’s own game recap and matched across independent sports-news coverage of the same game. A secondary figure describing a large crowd at a Triple-A rehab outing surfaced in early research but conflicted with that ballpark’s actual, much smaller listed capacity, so it was dropped rather than published unverified.
The injury and rehab timeline — a right elbow injury on October 2, 2024, a torn UCL diagnosis, Tommy John surgery, missing all of 2025, and a 60-day injured list transfer in May 2026 — was checked against the team’s own reporting and publicly available transaction records. The exact calendar date of the surgery itself isn’t pinned down beyond “shortly after” the October 2024 diagnosis, so this piece doesn’t state one.
We specifically checked for any team or player statement committing Musgrove to a starting role later in the postseason and found none; this piece describes his Game 1 outing as what it was, a relief appearance, and does not forecast a rotation role.
The Wild Card Series result was still developing at the time of writing: the Padres led 1-0, with Game 2 scheduled for the evening of September 30 and a possible Game 3 on October 1. That status was confirmed as current at publication, not carried over from an earlier snapshot.
No betting odds, point spreads, moneylines, or win-probability models appear anywhere on this page.