Dr. Schulz opines on Padres starter’s shoulder injury.
The Padres will be without one of their best starting pitchers, possibly for the rest of the season.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove has been shut down at least three weeks after an MRI revealed more severe inflammation in his right shoulder capsule than initially thought.
The earliest Musgrove could return to game action would likely be the first week of September, though that is more of a hope than an expectation at this point.
The Padres are encouraged that the MRI showed no structural damage to Musgrove’s rotator cuff or labrum.
“If they’re going to shut him down for three weeks, in my mind they’re thinking it is something less serious,” said Dr. Brian Schulz, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sanai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles and a team physician for the Angels.
Schulz, who has not examined Musgrove and was merely providing perspective, said the best-case scenario is that the inflammation is caused by workload and improves fairly rapidly with medicine and rest. The worst-case scenario, Schulz said, is there is an “underlying issue causing the inflammation” that could require surgery. That scenario is what the Padres are trying avoid.
