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San Diego Padres’ Kevin Acee announces their starting pitching situation. san diego union tribune Walker Buehler was added to the roster on Friday, and he and German Marquez are expected to occupy the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation.
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San Diego’s rotation will look like this when the season begins:
Joe Musgrove will start the season at Illinois and is expected to return sooner rather than later, but he has not played in a game since March 4 against UK. Griffin Canning is recovering and expected to return to Major League Baseball sometime in May, but there is no firm return date yet. Matt Waldron returned to action last week after being sidelined for hemorrhoid surgery. Waldron has no choice and will likely start the season with Illinois, but if not, he will have to be released and go through waivers with the Padres to keep him.
Among the remaining healthy pitching options, there are Marco Gonzales, who looked good against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday but has struggled throughout spring training, JP Sears, who has shown he is prone to home runs, and Triston McKenzie, who has struggled with command.
None of the remaining healthy players could turn the Flair faithful on their heads, but Sears’ work ethic and desire to get better drew praise from Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla and McKenzie, who worked with Niebla in Cleveland, improving his velocity and actively working to better control his pitches. If they can improve on their spring performance, Sears and McKenzie could still play important roles this season, although they didn’t crack the Opening Day roster.
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Taking all of the above into account, it’s no surprise to the respondents to this week’s Padres Response Survey. gas light bulb There’s a lot of focus on the San Diego rotation.
Many Padres fans are anticipating Musgrove’s return after missing the entire 2025 season following Tommy John surgery, but San Diego manager Craig Staman said the organization will take its time bringing the right-handed pitcher from San Diego back to the MLB mound. Musgrove himself said he knows he will be limited this season and may need some time off. His absence certainly changes the face and depth of the Padres rotation.
Opening Day is less than a week away. There’s some clarity on where the Padres’ rotation will look when the season starts, but the question of how long it will stay that way or how well it will perform is anyone’s guess.
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