You wait…you work…you hope.

The life of a major league pitcher on the road back from Tommy John surgery, forearm issues, rotator cuff damage, lat surgery or capsule damage feels like a lifetime, takes forever.

For every pitcher I have spoken to, I get different versions of the same topic.

Rehab is a long lonely road.

And so the latest Padres pitchers took to the mound on Tuesday morning up in Lake Elsinore for a California League game against Ontario.

On the mound, it would make you think it was Dodgers-vs-Padres.  There was Tyler Glasnow-vs-Joe Musgrove.  There was Nick Pivetta waiting his turn out of the bullpen.  

It was the first step back for each.  Glasnow, fighting thru back issues this year, but having experienced rehab and its setbacks, with the Pirates, Tampa Bay and multiple times in LA.

It was Joe Musgrove and his two year journey from his complicated elbow-forearm problems.

And for Pivetta, the road travelled again to come back from forearm flexor problems dating back to Boston.

Glasnow threw 2-shutout innings; looked fluid; gave up 1-hit, a strikeout.  But he’s been down this road so many times, one brief outing in Class A-ball is only a step.

For Musgrove, it is a first and so complicated, because it’s an elbow, it’s a bone spur, it’s a stress fracture of cartilage too.  He went (2.2inn-1R-2H-2W-3K) in a very strong outing.  But for him now comes the challenge.  What does he feel like tomorrow?  What does it feel like when he throws a bullpen?  What happens when he tries to cut it loose in his next rehab start.

For Pivetta it was a scare.  Clocked at 95mph among his first 14-pitches he felt something and promptly came off the mound.  You could sense pain, or maybe a twinge, but there was frustration boiling over.  And for him this question.  After all this rehab and slow build back, and something resurfaces in that forearm after 14-pitches in his first outing.  Not again…no-God no.

The most interesting conversations fit perfectly to what Musgrove and Pivetta are dealing with.

And who better than teammate Walker Buehler, who had two elbow surgeries, came back, had more setbacks.  Excelled and failed.  And has rebuilt his career a 3rd time.

Comments I thought you’d find interesting from Buehler and Musgrove, since Pivetta has determined a code of silence as he endures his own comeback.

Walker Buehler:

..You have to marry your body and mind.

..You feel you have PTSD in your elbow

..The perception this is an easy surgery is disingenuous

…You can’t chase flamethrower ghosts anymore

…You search for new skills.

Joe Musgrove:

..The ligament is guaranteed to be good

..But you wonder how long this takes 12-16-24 months-maybe never

..Rehabbing 3-injuries at once wears you out

..The ligament-the bone spur-the stress fracture in bone

..You learn to throw differently

..There never is a predictable timeline

..Not get back who you were-learn who need to become

..Need mental perserverance-there is a mental toll

..Past version yourself-no longer exists

..Same thing-every day-every month

So the Padres will face the rest of the schedule with a rebuilt pitching staff following the trade deadline deals.

For Musgrove and Pivetta, there is so much more road to travel.  There are no specific answers to specific questions, because this feels like a dark spot in a pitcher’s life.

Baseball is such a rush.  The clubhouse, a pennant race, sellouts, standing ovations and big money contracts.

But baseball is so very different for guys rehabbing.  On the DL for a lifetime.  Part of the team, but not really part of the team.

The glory and then emptiness.

A long lonely road for Musgrove and Pivetta.  Working-waiting-wondering, when, what is next, can I be what I used to be?

The cruel part to the grand old game.  It’s not on a road map, but Musgrove and Pivetta can tell you where the long lonely road is.

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