The hometown hero is here.
He has been here for more than a week. He isn't going anywhere.
Joe Musgrove would have liked to pitch for the United States in the World Baseball Classic. He was asked to.
But the San Diego kid has a primary loyalty that is too strong.
"Honestly, first year of a deal," Musgrove said, "I feel like I'm more worried about doing my job (for the Padres) than I am the WBC."
Manny Machado might be considered the Padres' de facto captain. Fernando Tatis Jr. might return to be their pulse. Yu Darvish can rightly be considered their "ace."
But Musgrove is his team's heart.
"I know that opportunity will be there again," he said of the WBC. "So maybe down my contract, I'll do it. But right now — and especially because we're missing like all of our (expletive) dudes — we're gonna need a couple of people around to still keep things (expletive) going a little bit."
Musgrove takes his role as a leader seriously. He knows it is part of the reason the Padres awarded him a five-year, $100 million contract in August.
That means setting an example and fostering a comfortable environment where players want to be their best as individual for the betterment of the group — be it taking young catcher Luis Campusano under his wing, taking an active role in Tatis' reintegration to the club or his organizing a week's worth of activities such as dinner and deep-sea fishing for pitchers and catchers this offseason.
And it means doing what the Grossmont High School alumnus has done on the field in two seasons since returning to San Diego in a January 2021 trade.
What he has accomplished had hardly been done by any pitcher wearing a Padres uniform.
Only Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry (2.67 from 1978-79) and Bruce Hurst (3.08, 1989-90) had a lower ERA than Musgrove's 3.11 through their first 60 starts with the franchise. Just seven pitchers threw more innings than Musgrove's 356 1/3 in his first 60 starts, and no one had done so since Adam Eaton threw 373 1/3 over his first 60 starts with the Padres from 2000-03.
Musgrove is one of four pitchers in Padres history (along with Yu Darvish, Randy Jones and Jake Peavy) to have posted two seasons with a sub-1.10 WHIP while making at least 25 starts.
Musgrove, who threw the franchise's only no-hitter in his second start in 2021, has over the past two seasons ranked in the top 20 in the major leagues in ERA, innings, strikeouts, WHIP and starts.
In 2022, he became just the fifth pitcher in franchise history to make 30 starts, have a sub-3.00 ERA, get at least 10 wins, strike out at least 180 batters and post a sub-1.10 WHIP. (The others were Kevin Brown in 1998, Jake Peavy in 2005 and '07 and Mat Latos in '10.)
Oh, and on Oct. 9 he pitched one of the finest — and, given the circumstances, possibly the finest — games in Padres history when he shut out the Mets for seven innings in the win-or-go-home Game 3 of the National League wild-card series.
"You know what, that New York game, I feel like it was the first time that I've truly just submitted to how I felt," he said recently. "Like, I was (expletive) terrified. Nervous as (expletive). Scared. All I could think about the day before was, like, how many people back home are counting on me and if I fail, it's gonna be the biggest (expletive) letdown. And then just simply changing that same exact thought from negative to positive. Instead of saying like, 'If I fail, I'm going to have to show my face in front of these people' to 'If I (expletive) dominate, I'm going to be the (expletive) guy in San Diego.'"
It is in recalling that game that perhaps Musgrove's two most prominent attributes are exemplified — his devotion to San Diego and his ability to lean into fear and turn it into strength.
Dominick Johnson, Musgrove's godfather and personal pitching mentor, put it thusly: "What I'm most impressed by with Joe is his ability to embrace San Diego and not be overwhelmed by San Diego."
Musgrove went on to allow the Dodgers two runs in six innings in the decisive Game 4 of the NL Division Series before giving up four runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLCS.
And then he rested.
First, he received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left knee to treat a lingering issue he characterized as tendinitis that caused pain and inflammation.
"It's definitely more manageable now," Musgrove said. "It's never been anything that's kept me off the field. I haven't missed any games. It's just an aching injury that kind of prohibits you from progressing and working on some things you want to. It's more about like whatever I can do to get it feeling right, like maybe I have to like back off some of the stuff I'm doing (between starts). You just can't really push it as much. But it feels pretty good now."
After the shot came a three-week hiatus, one that included a trip to Antarctica as part of a fundraising effort for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. There, threw a baseball 86 mph, a pitch currently under review by the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fastest pitch ever thrown on the continent.
Other than that, though, Musgrove enjoyed a rest that was much longer than his usual winter downtime.
"It just lined up to have that time off," he said. "I haven't rested more than a couple of days in the offseason. So being forced into that three weeks of rest was probably pretty good."
Musgrove often talks of the intersection of personal and team goals and how one enhances the other. For instance, his goals of 200 strikeouts and 200 innings this season would probably mean he pitched the Padres to a few victories.
And his focusing solely on the Padres this spring is also what is best for him.
"I really wanted to get (the knee) in a good place, and it's starting to feel really good now," he said. "But I value this spring training time so much. Not only like the ability to go in and actually work on your pitches and start shaping things and get the visual with hitters, but just the schedule of being done by one o'clock and having the day to rest, recover. I really enjoy that routine."
