Padres' Joe Musgrove Has Fascinating Reaction to His Latest Career Milestone

Musgrove evoked the most hallowed record of Nolan Ryan's career — here's why

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In just his second game back from a lengthy stint on the injured list, Joe Musgrove recorded the 1,000th strikeout of his career. The San Diego Padres starter allowed three hits, one earned run, two walks while striking out six in 4.1 innings on Sunday to reach the milestone he has been approaching all season.

Musgrove came into the season 51 strikeouts short of the 1,000 mark. He could have reached 1,000 earlier this year had his season not been derailed by injuries.

The right-hander originally went on the IL in early May, taking 20 days between starts for his first stint of the season on the IL. He then went on the IL again for more than two months with a bone spur in his pitching elbow, keeping him from making a start in June or July.

One of Musgrove's first reactions to crossing the 1,000 mark was to say how "crazy" it is that former MLB player Nolan Ryan accumulated 5,000 strikeouts.

"It makes you realize how f---ing crazy it is that Nolan Ryan's got 5,000 of them," Musgrove said, via MLB.com's AJ Cassavell.

Joe Musgrove said his 1,000th K was especially gratifying, because he's been close for months but was sidelined with an elbow injury. He added:

"It makes you realize how f---ing crazy it is that Nolan Ryan's got 5,000 of them."

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) August 18, 2024

Ryan didn't just throw 5,000 strikeouts either, but 5,714 of them over the course of his 27-year career. Ryan threw so many strikeouts that he has nearly 1,000 more than the next leading pitcher on the all-time strikeouts list, Randy Johnson, who finished his career with 4,875 strikeouts.

The Hall of Famer played baseball in four different decades, and led MLB in strikeouts 11 separate times over his career. Ryan additionally holds the record for career no-hitters (seven) and the modern-era record for most strikeouts in a season (383).

Musgrove, like the majority of pitchers in the history of MLB, is far off from the accomplishments that Ryan reached over his career. Still, Musgrove has had a solid career to this point.

Before his season was shortened to injuries the last two seasons, Musgrove had two great back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Musgrove went 11-9 with a 3.18 ERA and a career-high 203 strikeouts. The following season, Musgrove earned his first career All-Star appearance as he went 10-7 with a career-best 2.93 ERA and 184 strikeouts.

Musgrove got off to a shaky start this season, giving up five earned runs in 2.2 innings in the Padres' second game of the season against the Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea.

Musgrove then posted a 6.08 ERA through April, before beginning to turn his performance around in May. He pitched a 2.51 ERA in three May starts before going on the IL. Since coming back, he has allowed just one earned run in two starts, giving a 4.97 ERA on the season.