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. 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. Now 34 years old, Musgrove made four rehab appearances in August, but he said his postgame recoveries continued to be difficult.
Musgrove has been throwing in instructional league games this month, and the Padres apparently liked what they saw. San Diego chose Musgrove for its 11-man postseason pitching staff over several possible candidates, including dependable right-hander Randy Vasquez, 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.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
