Joe Musgrove on dominant shutout versus the Mets and big return of Yu Darvish to the Padres

Joe congratulations how much fun was that tonight good yeah it feels good to be back on the Wind column feels like it's been months and probably has been but uh yeah good outing all around threw a lot of strikes introduced a new pitch we worked on this week um good defense behind me good hitting early in the game it was pretty good game all around and what was the new pitch that you worked on uh just more of like a gyro type slider similar to what St throws um something that I feel like I can get in the zone a little more and be more aggressive to the edge um the the sweeper has been really hard for me to kind of glove strike on the outer half um so I was able to use the you know the traditional slider as more of a strike pitch and maybe just off the edge and then open it up a little bit more with the sweeper so yeah good mix you've had a lot of dominant outings in your career we've seen a lot of them here in San Diego this seemed like one where you really had the entire repertoire that you're able to go to anytime that you wanted to you feel that way tonight yeah yeah I felt like we you know kind of established every pitch from the get-go um I don't feel like I threw many balls I feel like I attacked the zone and work to the edges the execution weight was just really high tonight and a lot of credit goes to higgy I think throwing a new pitch for me tonight and he saw the shape of it I didn't really know how I wanted to use it or where I wanted to use it but kind of just put a lot of trust in him didn't really know what it was going to look like tonight um you know look good in the pin but it's always a bit different in the game so um put a lot of trust in him and just kind of followed his lead so yeah he called a great game as far as our progression goes it feels like it's just gone as good as you could possibly expect in terms of the pitch count Rising how you're feeling out there next time out I would imagine limits on you yeah I don't I don't know how many pitches I threw tonight I feel like I was somewhere in the 70s maybe up into 80 but um we're looking at like 90 pitches or so 85 pitches um you know the seven UPS is really big for me that's usually where I tend to struggle is you know the more UPS during the course of a buildup um but I felt good I think that play at the end of the six kind of gave me a little jolt and um you know gave me that little adrenaline boost to get back out there and feel strong for that seven so I don't know what the next one will look like I mean I'm probably still somewhere around 90 pitches seeing as I only threw 75 or 80 tonight but uh yeah pretty close to no leash gotta ask you about that play that was just incredible one of the best plays you feel like you've made as a pitcher and how fun was it to execute yeah I mean it's tell those plays are tough cuz you got your back to the runner I don't know how far down the line he is how hard he's running um it's kind of a tweener play me and Jake talk a ton about you know me getting over and I told him I'll always be at the bag on anything your way so flip me the ball I'm going to be there um so part of me was thinking he was going to go after the ball and let me have the bag I just you know soon as it got past me it was a little bit of hesitation on whether I should cut to the bag or keep following the ball I just kind of glance and saw him at the bag so I mean more Instinct took over at that point but uh I've always felt like I'm pretty good at handling my position and um yeah that was one of my funner plays is that more when you that is is that more Instinct slide Flip or is there something to do in the moment or yeah I mean it all it feels like it feels like instinct but there's a lot of thoughts that happen in like milliseconds I mean it all happens so fast you kind of just rely on you know past experiences and a little bit of what feels right in the moment but um yeah I plan on glove flipping it the whole time once it got past me I thought I was going to be able to get to it and just run to the bag but um yeah I went for more of like a shovel pass more than like a catch and flip you know to try to keep it more online so yeah good play I know it was a couple years ago but do you get up more for the Mets not necessarily I mean because they're a good lineup yeah but I don't really hold anything about you know what happened a few years ago in the playoffs um obviously there's that that feeling of accomplishment knowing that I have dominated him before and I know where the holes are this lineup a lot of dangerous hitters but I feel like the the plan was very clear it felt like you know I don't want to say easy lineup to face but like the plan fit right into what I do really well so it was just a matter of execution and um you like I said I followed higgy lead and the execution was at a really high CP tonight so what's it like getting kind of thrown right into like this part of the Season you were off for as long as you were and now these games mean so much to be thrown right into that yeah I mean I the fact that I stayed around and you know I didn't get left behind on many road trips I was with the team the whole time I kind of felt the energy of where this season was building um you know I was there for the close wins I was there for the comeback wins I was there through the losses and to see how the team bounced back and showed up with the same approach every day regardless of winning or losing um it gave me a lot of confidence that this team's right where it needs to be so I go out there with the intent of just putting up a quality start and then you find yourself in the fifth with no runs and you kind of push for that you know that shut out um I think getting deeper into the game tonight was big for us um in a Four game series not showing an extra arm in the bull p is going to pay off for us down those next two games but yeah it's it's fun getting thrown these are the best games to play you know August September is the most fun you know baseball you'll see all season until you get into the postseason so um I'm glad I feel healthy glad I'm you know pitching well and glad I'm able to contribute what's like kind of Nish back in here knowing he can be on his way back to yeah I think he he kind of tried to keep his distance from me today I know he's been removed for a while so I think he just kind of gave me the respect of knowing it's my start day but I look forward to sitting with him tomorrow we've been anxiously a waiting his return um I think everyone knows in this in this clubhouse that baseball you know it's everyone's love but it's not you know it's not your high power and it's not you know your God I guess um you know it's it's a big piece of everyone's life but there's things outside of the game that are you know more important than that and if he feels like he needs a step away to handle those things we we back him up and support him you darish loves baseball more than anybody in this Clubhouse um more committed more dedicated more um obsessed with the game than anybody so for him to step away I know it's something serious that you know means a lot to him and uh you know we tried to give him the persective giving him the space and just show him that we were here and ready and you ready to welcome him back so it's a great feeling to have him back and you know if he's you darish that we all expect he will be it's going to be another good piece for our rotation how big today darish but also taking a step for tatis like how big a boost is that for the entire clubhous having both those guys close I didn't even see what happened with tatis I haven't oh I didn't know that honest yeah I mean he's another piece that you know obviously the team feels way more confident when he's when he's on the field uh not only from his performance but his energy and you know the life that he brings to the game the excitement um that's another good piece that we're looking to looking forward to having back and especially with the way we've been playing you know last month or so um it's a great time for him to reenter so whenever that is we'll be again welcomeing him back