Padres News: Joe Musgrove Reflects on His Own Up and Down First Half

He has been on a roll lately!

The start to the season was rough on almost everyone within the San Diego Padres organization. However, the team has recently started to put together some nice momentum that it can carry over into the second half of the season. 

The pressure of entering the season as one of the top World Series favorites seemed to get to the Friars early on but the hope is that this notion is behind them and they can move forward as a collective unit.

One player in particular struggled early on but has started to round into form somewhat. That is pitcher Joe Musgrove and he has allowed two runs or fewer in five straight starts. The Padres veteran pitcher is starting to look like himself and it has allowed the team to start relying on him once again.

On the year, Musgrove holds an ERA of 3.29 but it took some work to get there. Back towards the end of May, his ERA was in the upper sixes and his season seemed lost. But Musgrove never gave up and continued to battle back from his early season injury.

“I had a lot of growth in that first half, going through some of the injuries and not feeling my best and not having some of my best weapons, learning how to use some of the other stuff and learning how to get outs without my best stuff and without the highest level of confidence,” he said. “It paid off a lot down the stretch these last few starts when I did start feeling right.



Per The SD Union-Tribune

He is one of the keys to their starting rotation so getting him back in a groove is massive for them. The All-Star break will allow him to get some extra rest to recoup and his next scheduled start won’t be until Tuesday, July 18 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“It’ll be big for me now,” Musgrove said of the rest. “I’ve been kind of struggling to get through these last couple.”

Per The SD Union-Tribune

Like many players, Musgrove started off slowly but is now in the mid-season rhythm. He holds an ERA of just 1.79 over his last nine starts and if Musgrove can continue to pitch at a high level, it will easily benefit the Padres as they look to climb back into contention for the postseason.