2022 Padres Player Review: Joe Musgrove

2022 Regular Season Statistics

3.5 fWAR, 30 G, 181 IP, 2.93 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 184 K, 42 BB, 22 HR, 14 HBP

Positives From This Season

You could say Joe Musgrove had a pretty good season for his hometown team. He was an All-Star for the first time, signed a $100 million extension and pitched his team into the NLDS and NLCS.

Musgrove started the season with 12 straight quality starts. He almost had a no-hitter against the Brewers in June. There were times during the year where fans were debating whether it should be Musgrove or Yu Darvish to start Game 1 of a playoff series.

When the postseason came, Musgrove showed the world why he got $100 million from Peter Seidler. He pitched so great in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series that Mets manager Buck Showalter thought he was cheating. Brian Kenny then tried to discredit him the day after he embarrassed the Mets offense in a win-or-go-home game.

Then in front of his home crowd he helped eliminate the Dodgers, pitching six innings and allowing two runs before handing it off to the bullpen to finish off the biggest upset in MLB postseason history since 1906. In the NLCS against Philadelphia, he kept the Padres in Game 3 after a rocky first inning.

Negatives From This Season

Sort of like Darvish, it’s hard for me to criticize Musgrove for his 2022 performance. There was a rough patch after his extension where he allowed 17 runs in four starts but he admitted later in the season that those struggles helped him in the postseason because he knew how to deal with adversity.

It’s great that Padres fans don’t have to worry about Musgrove hitting the free agent market. There are already enough players that San Diego is going to be focused on bringing back.

If you wish to listen or watch me talk more about Musgrove’s season on the Talking Friars Podcast/YouTube show, click here!