San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove was taken out of the Padres opening Cactus League game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after recording zero outs.
Musgrove faced just four batters in Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, James Outman and Teoscar Hernández before he came out of the game. Betts and Outman each walked, while Taylor singled loading the bases for Hernández.
Hernández hit a two-run, ground-rule double, and Musgrove was removed from the game.
Carter Loewen filled in for Musgrove afterward, immediately recording a strikeout. However, the Padre's woes continued through the first inning, as the Dodgers went on to take an 8-0 lead. Musgrove was responsible for four earned runs.
Musgrove comes into this season after an injury-riddled 2023 campaign. His season started late after dropping a kettlebell on his toe resulting in a fractured toe. However, Musgrove got hot during the early summer. From the end of May through July 28, Musgrove posted a 1.84 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.
However, Musgrove's season ended early in August with shoulder inflammation.
This is Musgrove's first game action since August, and it wasn't very pretty.
On a more optimistic note, this is only Musgrove's first game action of the Cactus League. He'll have plenty more time over the next month to get regular season ready.
He's expected to start one of the two games in Korea for the Padres against the Dodgers on March 20 or 21.
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