Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta exited today’s game against the Rockies in the fourth inning today, and the Padres later announced that his departure was due to “right elbow stiffness.” Additional details about the situation are not yet known, but AJ Cassavell of MLB.com notes that Pivetta’s velocity was down on his final pitch and he appeared frustrated as he exited the game with manager Craig Stammen and a team trainer. After the game, Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune relayed comments from Stammen that indicated Pivetta may undergo imaging tomorrow depending on how he feels in the morning, but offered some optimism as he suggested that “there’s a world” where Pivetta makes his next start.
Cassavell notes that Pivetta previously missed a start during Spring Training last month due to what the Padres described at the time as “arm fatigue.” He wound up missing just that one start, and it’s unclear if that ailment has any connection to this current issue. Stammen’s update after the game appears to be fairly optimistic, but any amount of time missed by Pivetta would be a real blow to San Diego. Pivetta was the team’s top starter last year, as he pitched to a 2.87 ERA in 181 2/3 innings of work across 31 starts. That sort of production is never easy to replace, but it’s even more difficult for San Diego given that Dylan Cease left for Toronto in free agency while Joe Musgrove is not yet ready to return from his October 2024 Tommy John surgery.
If Pivetta does wind up missing time due to his ailing elbow, it seems likely that the Padres will turn to either Matt Waldron or Griffin Canning to fill the void. Both are presently on the injured list but have already begun rehab assignments and are looking fairly good as they do so. Waldron seems to be the further along of the two in terms of building up his pitch count and could be the first choice to join the rotation if Pivetta is placed on the shelf. Canning is on a guaranteed MLB deal and cannot be optioned to the minors, but Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune suggests that he may not be ready to return to action until next month. If a fifth starter is needed before either Waldron or Canning is ready, JP Sears is also available at Triple-A alongside non-roster veterans like Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie.
That’s a decent amount of depth and it will be much-needed if Pivetta misses significant time. The rest of the rotation has had promising moments but comes with question marks. Michael King has gotten solid results but hasn’t looked quite as sharp as he did before his shoulder injury last season. Randy Vasquez has looked nothing short of excellent despite being more of a back-of-the-rotation arm in the past, and Walker Buehler is offering some encouraging peripherals, but German Marquez has looked over-matched so far this year with a 5.54 ERA and 7.50 FIP. The right-hander could be pushed out of the Padres’ rotation by Waldron’s return, though that of course won’t happen if Pivetta misses time and Waldron is instead filling in for the staff’s ace.
