Joe Musgrove Feeling More Confident Heading Into Next Start After Rough First Two Outings

The 31-year-old starting pitcher says he's feeling more like himself as spring progresses.

The 2024 spring training hasn't been too kind to the San Diego Padres' right-handed starting pitcher, Joe Musgrove. He looks far from the All-Star we've become accustomed to in his first two starts. 

However, it seems like those days are behind the 31-year-old. After throwing 64 pitches on the back fields of the Peoria Sports Complex, Musgrove says he's feeling more like himself. 

He stopped to talk with reporters, including 97.3 The Fan, and said he gets better as games go by. 

"Good, I felt a lot better today. I feel like I've always been somebody who finds my stuff and sharpens up as games go, as the season goes. The more game reps I get, I feel that's when I make the best adjustments throughout the course of games... I felt like at the end of the outing, I felt really good about where I was at."

– Joe Musgrove, via 97.3 The Fan

Musgrove has been awful in his first two Cactus League outings. He has a 43.20 ERA with a 0-2 record, zero strikeouts, and a 4.20 WHIP in 1.2 innings combined against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians. 

However, those numbers do not reflect what's to come for Musgrove and who he is. 

An All-Star with San Diego in 2022, Musgrove is 60-57 with a 3.72 ERA in 187 games (161) starts with the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Padres in parts of eight big-league seasons.

It has yet to be announced when Musgrove will get another start, but it should be sometime this week. His last Cactus League game was Feb. 26, and the Padres are hoping to have him ready for the season-opening series in South Korea, March 20-21.

As we get closer to regular season ball, Musgrove should look more and more like the ace of the staff.