The Padres’ starting pitching went from a huge problem to a five-alarm fire this weekend against the rival Dodgers at Petco Park. The Padres lost the final two games of a three-game series to fall 10 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West.
Saturday evening’s bullpen game turned into a 15-4 shellacking, and on Sunday, Michael King imploded during a four-run fifth inning when the Dodgers scored all their runs in a 4-2 win. The previously steady King lost all command, walking three and hitting a batter to force in a run. Mookie Betts drove in another pair with a single, finally chasing King from the game way too late.
“Yeah, [King] just lost the strike zone there,” Padres first-year manager Craig Stammen told the media after the game, stating the obvious. “He got cornered in by Mookie and Mookie made him pay for it. You have to pitch better and throw strikes. That’s No. 1. You make the other team put the ball in play and play the percentages. No. 2, we have to do a better job managing it during the game.”
King this year has been the club’s healthiest and most reliable starter, followed closely behind by the reconstituted Walker Buehler, a two-time Tommy John surgery survivor who was cast aside by the Dodgers and had a horrible season last year with the Red Sox and Phillies.
To illustrate the depth of San Diego’s starting problems, Buehler made the club out of spring training, where he was a non-roster invitee. He was added to the 26-man roster, signed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal, and has been a pleasant surprise since then at 5-3 with a 3.81 ERA in 16 starts.
The starting rotation falls off a cliff after that largely because of injuries and ineffectiveness. From June 1 through Sunday, Padres starters recorded only five wins in 24 games, and Buehler had two of them. King has won only once since May 18, and that win was last week against the Braves. Randy Vasquez and the recently recalled J.P. Sears have the other two. Otherwise, it’s been a patchwork of openers and fill-ins. Is this any way to capture an NL Wild Card berth?
The Padres are currently paying $42.3 million this season to inactive starting pitchers.
“We’ve tried to be a little bit creative with openers and bullpen games,” Stammen said. “All of that is still on the table. Everything is still on the table to make it better. You think of it and we’ll probably try it or we’ve already talked about it.”
The injured list includes a who’s who of star Major League Baseball starters rehabbing from injury, surgery or both. Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta, Matt Waldron, German Marquez and the recently signed Lucas Giolito are all in different phases of recovery.
Darvish, Musgrove and Pivetta are all long-tossing from about 90 feet, but have yet to throw off a mound.
Darvish had Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in 2015 when he was still a member of the Rangers and followed that up last year with the newer internal brace procedure. He pondered retirement earlier this season, but instead went on the restricted list and has actively rehabbed.
He told Times of San Diego in a brief interview during the past homestand that he expects to pitch again soon.
Since Darvish is on the restricted list for what is simply a personal matter, all the Padres would have to do is apply at any time to the commissioner’s office for his reinstatement.
“He looks pretty good, but I don’t expect him back this year,” Stammen said candidly when asked about Darvish’s situation. “Who knows? He could be that October surprise.”
Musgrove is nearing 21 months since he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Oct. 11, 2024, right before the finale of the Padres losing a five-game NL Division Series to the Dodgers. Musgrove never pitched during that series, one in which the Padres failed to score in the final 24 innings.
The usual recovery time from Tommy John surgery is 12 to 18 months. Musgrove was shut down during spring training when pain recurred and he hasn’t pitched off a mound since. There have been multiple starts and stops since then, Musgrove told Times of San Diego last week, also adding that he’s soft-tossing sans pain for the first time.
There’s no telling what will happen when he faces live hitters or has to crank it up again in a real Major League game. Time will tell, but the Padres can’t count on him to be a factor this season.
Pivetta departed from his fourth 2026 start with pain in his right elbow. He was subsequently diagnosed with a flexor strain, a recurrence of a similar injury he suffered in 2024 with the Red Sox when he missed more than a month early in that season.
The good news is that Pivetta didn’t undergo surgery, but the bad news is that he’s still on the 60-day disabled list with a possible return sometime after the July 14 All-Star Game. He pitched for the last time on April 12, so that timing could be right depending on the progress of his rehab.
“There’s no timetable,” Stammen said. “Obviously, you’ve seen that with a bunch of pitchers. They throw off flat ground, but it doesn’t really matter until you get to the mound, face live hitters and progress innings-wise.”
The last thing the Padres want with Musgrove or Pivetta is any more relapses. The D-backs recently had to suspend Tommy John rehabs for both starter Corbin Burnes and reliever A.J. Puk because of recurring injuries.
Giolito, a late free agent signing by the Padres because of their early-season pitching injuries, was placed on the 15-day injured list on June 23 because of right elbow soreness. Giolito has a long history of elbow issues, including missing the entire 2024 season after an internal brace procedure.
Last season, he had to skip the Red Sox’s Wild Card Series against the Yankees because of elbow soreness. His injury status was obviously why Giolito wasn’t signed by the Padres to a $3 million contract until April 22.
“[Relapses] happen a lot with pitchers,” Stammen said. “With these guys we’ve got to be very diligent with what we’re doing. The ramp-up process is the most difficult part of the process.”
