Joe Musgrove at home being Padres’ workhorse, will start opener against Dodgers

Joe Musgrove came home to be who he has become.

The Grossmont High alum made history in a game in April and now is closing in on completion of one of the finest seasons in Padres history.

“This is the happiest I’ve been playing baseball since I was a little kid,” he said this week.

Musgrove won a World Series ring with the Houston Astros and fit right in for three seasons in blue-collar Pittsburgh.

But San Diego is where he is from and where he was meant to be.

He arrived back in town via a trade from the Pirates in January and celebrated his return from the start.

He loves this place. He has lived this place.

Musgrove for many years made his offseason residence in more spots in San Diego County than some longtime residents even get to — Cardiff, Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Bankers Hill — for the sole purpose of experiencing as much of this place as he could.

He wears sandals whenever possible, goes barefoot much of the rest of the time. It’s easier to do either now that he bought a house “sandwiched between the beach and the bay.”

He chuckles as he remembers wearing a Padres jersey and New York Mets hat to his first game at Qualcomm Stadium. He liked blue and orange. Later, he was the kid “dancing, trying to get on the Jumbotron all the time.” He really fell in love with the hometown team in those years the family had season tickets in right field at the new downtown ballpark.

By the time he joined the Padres, he was ready to wear a big number (Jake Peavy’s 44) and take on a big role.

So who better to pitch Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers — the first game of what could be a decisive 10-game road trip — than the kid who used to shout a rhythmic “Beat L.A.” along with thousands of other San Diegans?

“Everyone knows what we’ve got ahead of us,” Musgrove said this week. “I’m trying not to look at it that way and build it up more than it is. It’s still just another start. I know the importance of the start, but that’s not going to change the way I approach it.”

Why would it? How could it?

He pours all he has into every start. That much has become clear.

“Like all the good pitchers, you can see it in their face and in their attitude,” veteran Padres reliever Craig Stammen said. “Sometimes I think he’s crazy the way he goes after groundballs. But it’s so cool to see somebody who tries 100 percent all the time out there.”

Musgrove threw the franchise’s first no-hitter April 9 and on Aug. 27 shut out the Angels for nine innings.

And a five-inning performance earlier in August — his only poor start among his last eight — is what teammates talk about with the most reverence. He threw 39 pitches while allowing five runs in the first inning Aug. 14 at Arizona. After looking like he might not make it three outs, he went 15. He did it because he felt he had to. It’s what he does.

“Competitors are the guys that want one more game, want one more inning, want one more pitch,” Stammen said. “No matter how many times you kill them, they’re like, ‘No, give me one more.’”

Musgrove is the only Padres starter not to go on the injured list this season. He has made 26 starts and one five-inning relief appearance (in which he did not allow a baserunner).

He has gone at least five innings in 22 of his 27 games while pitching a total of 153 2/3 innings. That ranks 16^th in the National League and is just less than 17 innings off his career high.

While being the staff’s workhorse, he has compiled a 2.87 ERA and 1.01 WHIP and allowed opponents a .204 batting average.

Those numbers rank sixth, sixth and fifth, respectively in the National League.

And in Padres history, just 10 starting pitchers (in 17 seasons) have had a lower ERA in a full season, only one has had a lower WHIP and just two have allowed a lower batting average.

Musgrove has done this while navigating the demands of and soaking in the advantages of being home. Along with the abundance of ticket requests and the family and friends waiting after many games and the fans calling his name and media request after media request, Musgrove has his physical therapist and trainer nearby. He also has lunch almost every week with Dominic Johnson, his pitching coach since he was 14 years old, and makes it home to El Cajon once a homestand.

“There’s a little extra pressure, but I feel like that is elevating my game — just that fear of failure playing in front of my family and people I know,” Musgrove said. “… It proves a lot of things to myself, how well I’ve played here. It wasn’t as easy as it might seem to some people. It was definitely stressful, but those are the things that pushed me to get to where I am.”