Joe Musgrove’s Triple-A rehab start goes smoothly, striking out three while throwing 60 pitches

Joe Musgrove’s latest rehab assignment for Triple-A El Paso followed a familiar pattern for pitchers trying to come back from Tommy John surgery: build innings, test command, and prove the arm holds up under late-session work. On Thursday night, Musgrove checked several of those boxes at once, throwing 60 pitches with 42 strikes, a 70% strike rate, during a five-inning outing.

According to MLB reporting out of the Padres’ organization, Musgrove also produced three strikeouts in that span, showing he could miss bats rather than simply survive with pitches in play. The outing took place in what the team described as a potential final rehab start before his next step back to the Padres’ rotation.

The date of the surgery matters for the stakes of a rehab start. Musgrove is on the comeback trail following Tommy John surgery performed in October 2024, and the rehab plan is designed to bridge the gap between rehabilitation and the sharper, higher-leverage demands of Major League Baseball. A later rehab start that goes cleanly can shorten the gap between “rebuilding” and “rejoining,” at least in the practical sense of needing fewer additional tune-up outings.

For the Padres, this matters not because a single start guarantees a return, but because rotation health is often determined by how well pitchers progress through the final phase of rehab. Musgrove’s 60-pitch workload is a common checkpoint for a pitcher nearing activation, and the 70% strike rate suggests his command was usable across an entire outing rather than only in early counts.

El Paso is one of the final proving grounds for players moving toward the majors. In Triple-A, the batting quality and pitch selection tend to look more like the higher level than earlier minor league assignments, so a rehab pitcher can better test how hitters adjust as the pitch count rises and the lineup turns over.

The Padres’ next step will still depend on the standard medical and performance considerations that follow any rehab start, including how the arm responds in the days after the outing. The MLB report frames this start as potentially his last before returning to San Diego, but the organization still controls the timing based on the complete rehab picture.

What to watch from here is straightforward: whether Musgrove’s subsequent bullpen work (if required) matches the sharpness from El Paso, and whether the Padres’ rotation plans can be stabilized by his reentry. If the comeback continues without setbacks, Musgrove’s ability to command strikes and get hitters to miss bats could position him to resume his role as a trusted starter rather than a managed-inning option.

For now, the clearest takeaway is that Musgrove’s arm looked ready to handle meaningful work. Throwing 60 pitches, hitting the strike mark at a 70% clip, and recording three strikeouts in five innings is the kind of rehab outcome that teams expect when a return to the majors is approaching.