The Padres punched their ticket to the NLDS, but it might've come at a huge cost

It was a party at Petco Park on Wednesday night, as the San Diego Padres polished off a Wild Card sweep of the Atlanta Braves to advance to the NLDS. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez banged out five hits combined, Jackson Merrill came through with a big two-run triple as part of a five-run second inning and unsung catcher Kyle Higashioka homered yet again for the Friars, whose combination of lineup depth and frontline starting pitching looks like a recipe for October success.

But while everyone was busy celebrating, that recipe may have taken a big hit. Injury struck one of the biggest drivers of San Diego's second-half success, and now his status is in question for the Division Series and beyond.

Joe Musgrove's elbow injury throws Padres playoff run into peril

All-Star righty Joe Musgrove got the start for the Padres in Game 2, and he was cruising early, allowing just a solo homer from Jorge Soler while striking out four across his first 3.2 innings of work. Prior to facing Braves first baseman Matt Olson, however, Higashioka noticed something off about his pitcher's delivery and came out to the mound to check in. The duo were quickly joined by a trainer, and before you knew it Musgrove was out of the game.

Musgrove would be diagnosed with tightness in his right elbow, and told reporters after the game that this is actually something he's been battling through for the last couple of weeks. “I felt pretty good at the start of the game,” he said. “And then, I mean, from pitch one, it was tight. But I felt like I’d be able to get through the outing and maybe get better as we went, or if it stayed where it was we’d be all right.”

The good news is that, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee, an MRI on Thursday revealed no structural damage. The bad news, however, is that even if Musgrove avoided the need for surgery or anything else that might keep him out an extended period of time, he might not be able to pitch again this postseason.

Even if Musgrove has avoided something too serious, this sort of elbow discomfort isn't something you can just push through. It's likely that he'll need to be shut down for at least a week or two until the injury subsides, which would make pitching against the Dodgers out of the question. From there, the best-case scenario would be a return for a potential NLCS, and even that would involve a very compressed timeline — and would likely involve Musgrove pitching in relief rather than starting, as he wouldn't be able to ramp back up to a full workload.

If there's a silver lining here, it's that San Diego does have some depth to help weather this storm. Michael King looked phenomenal in Game 1 against Atlanta, and Dylan Cease has been dynamite all year long. Yu Darvish is waiting in the wings behind those two, with veteran lefty Martin Perez potentially the fourth option. Even without Musgrove, that's better than what the injury-depleted Dodgers can offer on the mound right now, and it's certainly good enough to win multiple series if King, Cease and Darvish are all on their games.

Still, losing Musgrove — who posted a 2.17 ERA over 54 innings since Aug. 12 — a blow, one that turns the Padres' big strength into something of a question mark.