San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove has suffered a fractured left big toe after dropping a kettlebell in a weight room accident Monday, the team said Tuesday.
No timetable has been given for his return, but Padres manager Bob Melvin said it would be a “minimum of a couple weeks” before he could throw again.
“We’ll see. It’s kind of tough to forecast when you have a broken toe,” Melvin told reporters. “It’s going to be more about how it heals. Certainly if it’s a pain tolerance thing, Joe would be one of those guys that would be sooner than later. But obviously we have to evaluate how he’s feeling every day and we’ll see where we go.”
Musgrove, who signed a five-year, $100 million contract in August, went 10-7 with a 2.93 ERA and 184 strikeouts for the Padres last season while earning his first career All-Star selection.
The 30-year-old right-hander is forecast for the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind Yu Darvish and likely will be joined by Blake Snell and Michael Wacha. Nick Martinez, Seth Lugo and Adrian Morejon also are slated as potential starters, with the Padres possibly beginning the season with a six-man rotation.
Musgrove has a career record of 50-54 with a 3.79 ERA with the Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros in seven MLB seasons.
He etched himself into Padres lore when he threw the first no-hitter in franchise history in just his second start for San Diego, at Texas on April 9, 2021. It was in the team’s 8,206th regular-season game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.