A short series is all about pitching and the Padres should have a pretty good handle on their chances against the Cubs as soon as the ball leaves the right hand of starter Michael King.
Their best-of-three National League Wild Card Series begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday with Game 1 at Petco Park. King (12-10) is slated to face Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd (10-5).
Both team’s managers – the Padres’ Craig Stammen and the Cubs’ Craig Counsell – have yet to designate any starters beyond Game 1.
Nick Pivetta for the Padres and Kevin Gausman for the Cubs seem likely choices for Wednesday evening’s Game 2. It’s unclear how he will be used, but here’s one big surprise for the Padres – the team included the long-injured Joe Musgrove on the Wild Card series roster, it was announced Tuesday. Musgrove, after Tommy John surgery, hasn’t pitched since the playoffs in 2024.
A winner-take-all Game 3, if necessary on Thursday, is a crap shoot in a short series. The winner will take on the 103-win Brewers in an NL Division Series beginning Saturday night in Milwaukee.
The Cubs vanquished the Padres last year in a three-game opening-round series at Wrigley Field. But that was then and this is now, King noted during Monday’s workout day.
“I feel a really good vibe coming into this,” he said. “I was able to make some good adjustments throughout the year, and I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot coming into the playoffs.”
Both teams can thank the current 12-team playoff format for this opportunity. The Padres finished nine games behind the 100-win Dodgers in the NL West, and the Cubs were 14 games in arrears of the Brewers in the Central. In the old days, neither club would’ve even made the playoffs.
Our 2026 Wild Card Roster: pic.twitter.com/v6cTJhd6N8
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 29, 2026
But recently, MLB discovered what the NBA and NHL had known seemingly forever: the more teams in the dance the better.
The Padres and Cubs jockeyed for position during the last month of the season with the Phillies and D-backs for the final three NL playoff spots, which weren’t decided until the last day of the season. The Phillies won and the D-backs lost, deciding the seeding.
The Padres survived, primarily because they played 18-6 ball in September winning 17 of their last 20 games and coming out of nowhere to not just get back in the Wild Card race, but to take charge. The Cubs survived despite an 11-13 debacle in September.
One might think the Padres have an advantage if they remain hot. But all that goes by the boards in the playoffs, along with the analytics that rule the long 162-game season, Counsell said.
“What’s frustrating about this for a manager is that over the course of 162 games there’s a pattern to it,” he said. “There’s a pattern to how players get used, there’s a rhythm in the work. Then you turn the calendar to [the playoffs] and everything is done with the utmost of urgency. It just matters that we win.
“We lean more on the process over the course of 162 games because you have to. But when you have to win two out of three games your thoughts have to change a little bit.”
As far as King is concerned, he’s been the Padres’ most consistent starting pitcher, making all of his 32 starts as opposed to 15 in 2025 when he was severely limited because of a right shoulder injury and subsequent inflammation in his left knee. When it came to last year’s Wild Card Series he didn’t start, and only pitched one scoreless inning in relief.
Still, the Padres had enough faith to re-sign him this past offseason as a free agent to a three-year, $75 million contract. He has an opt out worth $5 million after the World Series, but that’s a story for another time.
Now the story is that King came through for the Padres when they most needed him. He had a streak of eight quality starts spanning the club’s resurgence from Aug. 8 to Sept. 17, which abruptly ended Sept. 22 in Los Angeles when the Dodgers scored four runs off of him with two out and nobody on. He impressed Padres manager Craig Stammen with his work down the stretch.
“The playoffs are tough. You have to be able to handle a lot of ups and downs,” Stammen said Sunday about King in particular and the Padres in general. “These guys have found out they can handle about anything and still come out on top. That’s a good lesson we learned about resiliency and toughness. Those are good traits to have in the postseason.”
King has those anomaly innings at times this season, but usually later in games. Otherwise he’s been consistent with 3.21 ERA and a 2.27 walk-to-strikeout ratio, both his best numbers in his three years after coming to the Padres in the Dec. 7, 2023, trade that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees. Still, King knows he has his work cut out for him.
“They’re a very professional lineup,” said King about the Cubs, who are led by top NL MVP candidate Pete Crowe-Armstrong. “Veteran guys. Speed guys. Power guys. Contact guys. I keep saying that when the pitcher executes we have the upper hand. So, I have to be sure I’m executing well and putting up as many zeros as I can.”
Where the Padres go from here with their pitching will depend on the results Tuesday night. If King can throttle the Cubs for six innings it will shorten bullpen use. And the latter is one of the club’s strengths with Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon at the back end as a lights out righty-lefty combination.
“We’ll come up with a game plan on the Cubs hitters and what we believe is the best matchup with our pitchers,” Stammen said. “Who will be our three starters. All those discussions are still going on until we hammer out our roster.”
