Joe Musgrove might forgive, but he doesn’t forget.
The Padres’ right-handed pitcher called out a former foe in MLB Network’s Brian Kenny on Thursday regarding the recent foreign substance checks that have plagued various pitchers, including the Mets and Max Scherzer this week.
Scherzer was ejected Wednesday, and it resulted in a 10-game ban for a sticky situation that he claimed was only “rosin and sweat.”
Domingo German of the Yankees was also recently checked on Sunday against the Twins under suspicions of anything on his hand or glove.
Musgrove, 30, tweeted, “Brian Kenny I can not wait to hear your take,” which was notably followed by an ear emoji that poked Kenny for a take he had of Musgrove in the 2022 postseason.
In Game 3 of the 2022 NL Wild Card series between the Padres and Mets, manager Buck Showalter requested a foreign substance check on Musgrove in an effort to throw off San Diego, as the Mets only had one hit in five innings and trailed by four runs.
The umpires checked the pitcher’s ears, his hat and glove, as talk circulated that his ears looked to have a shine to them — suggesting a substance could aid in his performance.
Musgrove passed the inspection, but Kenny felt strongly that the pitcher cheated and accused Musgrove of such on a segment of his “MLB Now” show.
Sports personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo asked Kenny if he thought Musgrove cheated, to which he answered, “Yup.”
Kenny went on to say that Musgrove didn’t have an answer for what was on his ears, and suggested why he didn’t answer with “there’s nothing on my ears.”
“I’m sweating like a dog,” Musgrove said at the time of inspection, and he was fired up afterward, shouting and pointing at Showalter after a scoreless sixth inning.
Musgrove continued to dominate on the mound, with the Padres winning 6-0, and they went on to lose in the NLCS to the Phillies.
Looking to build upon his All Star season, Musgrove was off to a slow start with toe and shoulder injuries, but he will be activated from the 15-day injured list to start Saturday against the Diamondbacks.
