Padres News: Joe Musgrove Has a Machado Level of Influence On the Pitching Staff Says Melvin

Padres manager Bob Melvin says Joe Musgrove's growth as a team leader has been "amazing" and the pitcher has "handled it beautifully."

Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove grew up rooting for the Friars in San Diego, and he talks a lot about the blessing of being able to pitch for his hometown team. He signed an extension last year to spend at least the next five seasons at Petco, a perfect match of player and team.

Musgrove made his first All-Star team in 2022, but it's not just his performance on the field that the team values. San Diego manager Bob Melvin was asked about Musgrove's influence in the clubhouse, and he was effusive in his praise.

"Yeah, it's amazing, you know? We we talk a lot about Manny [Machado] but you also have to, on the pitching end, talk about Joe, and that's where he's come to in his career. It's everything that he embraced last year, he gets the Opening Day start, becomes a leader the staff, signs a contract, pitches unbelievably in the postseason, and then this offseason, the mini camp was Camp 44 because it was all his idea. And afterwards, they're going out to dinner because of him, they're going down in a pool and holding their breath as long as they can, doing all those things that kind of made him who he is. So he's embraced this role and he's he's handled it beautifully, especially for someone who's a local guy in the area. ...

"It happened pretty quickly. Coming into this season, I think he felt like he was ready for that. I think the opening day start was huge for him, to perform like that in front of the home crowd and full house and, you know, the team that he was facing, shut them out, pretty good. And I think from that point on he's taken it to another level."

Musgrove's two seasons in San Diego have been the best of his career, and to hear Melvin talk about his growth as a player and as a leader is really nice. Talent will get you a long way in baseball, but leadership is vital to a winning team, and it sounds like the Padres have that on the offensive side with Machado and on the pitching staff with Musgrove.