San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen stated that Joe Musgrove will most likely begin the 2026 regular season on the injured list. This comes as the right-hander recovers from Tommy John surgery during spring training. Stammen made the comment before the Padres' 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants at Peoria Sports Complex.
Prior to the San Diego Padres' 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday afternoon at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona, manager Craig Stammen indicated that Joe Musgrove will “most likely” open the 2026 regular season on the injured list. Musgrove has been on a cautious ramp-up schedule this spring following Tommy John surgery, with the team prioritizing his health for the full campaign over a rushed return for Opening Day. Stammen noted, “It’s getting to the point where he’s taking enough time off that it would be hard to ramp him up to get him to be a viable starter that can throw five innings and 90 pitches. ... We knew we were going to have to get him ready for the entire season and not just Opening Day.” This development highlights the Padres' need to solidify the back end of their starting rotation behind Nick Pivetta, Michael King, and Randy Vásquez. Candidates include Walker Buehler, Griffin Canning, Marco Gonzales, Germán Márquez, Triston McKenzie, and JP Sears. Buehler impressed in his outing against the Giants, pitching five scoreless innings, allowing three hits, two walks, one hit batter, and striking out seven on 77 pitches, dropping his spring ERA to 3.09. “It was good to kind of use all my pitches, the changeup was really good today,” Buehler said. He deferred on rotation chances: “That’s above my pay grade.” Stammen emphasized the competition, saying, “We’ve got a lot of competition here in Spring Training. ... We’ll miss Joe at the beginning, but we’re going to have Joe at some point.” The final rotation decision may wait until the day before Opening Day.