Sometimes, a story just writes itself. This is one of those times, and it's a darn fine story, indeed.
Joe Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in Padres franchise history. He'll have about 160 more chances to throw another one in the brown and gold. The Grossmont High School alum and the Padres have agreed to a 5-year contract extension worth a reported $100 million that will keep the home town kid around through 2027.
Over the last season and a half, Musgrove has been far and away San Diego's best pitcher. This year he's posted a career-high 2.65 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP, both career highs, while averaging a strikeout per inning. He earned a spot in his first MLB All-Star Game and threw a scoreless inning, striking out feared Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in the process.
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Musgrove becomes the 5th Padres player with a 9-figure contract (along with Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, and Eric Hosmer), again showing owner Peter Seidler's commitment to spending to put a winner on the field. It's also a very smart move by the Friars. Musgrove, Mike Clevinger, Sean Manaea, and Nick Martinez were all eligible to become free agents after this season, so they've locked up a very good starting pitcher for a while.
The $20 million average annual value puts him right in the ballpark with other recent free agent All-Star starters like Robbie Ray, Zach Wheeler, and Kevin Gausman. Musgrove is a year younger than that trio and probably took a little bit less than he could have gotten on the open market. But, to stay in the town he loves ... that's worth it to Joe.
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While pitching for the Astros and Pirates, Musgrove would still come home to San Diego every off-season to train and live close to the beach. He wears #44 as an homage to Padres Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy, his favorite player growing up.
"No-No Joe" is also, simply put, a good dude. He works with the Challenged Athletes Foundation and other charities around San Diego and Padres manager Bob Melvin has praised Musgrove for the role he's taken on as a team leader.
Home town kid makes good. That's the kind of story that never gets old.
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