The scuffling San Diego Padres are about to get another reinforcement.
All-Star right-hander Joe Musgrove, sidelined since late February with a fractured toe, will come off the injured list and make his season debut Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, manager Bob Melvin announced, according to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.
Melvin added that Musgrove is built up to full strength and will have no pitch limits during the start. Yu Darvish will now pitch the series finale against Arizona on Sunday.
Musgrove suffered the fracture in a weight-room accident during spring training when he dropped a kettlebell on his left big toe. As a result, he didn't get into any Cactus League games and spent the first part of the regular season rehabbing at the Padres' Arizona complex.
The 30-year-old made a pair of minor-league rehab starts this month. In his last tune-up appearance for Single-A Lake Elsinore, Musgrove allowed four earned runs on five hits while striking out eight in five innings of work.
Musgrove earned his first All-Star nod last season, posting a 2.93 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with 184 strikeouts across 30 regular-season starts. He then put up a 2.89 ERA over three postseason outings, including seven innings of one-hit shutout baseball in the Padres' wild-card series-clinching win over the New York Mets. The San Diego native is in the first season of a five-year, $100-million extension he signed last August.
Musgrove's debut will come just a few days after superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. makes his highly anticipated return from a performance-enhancing drug suspension. Tatis is scheduled to be reinstated Thursday.
