Since losing Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller knew he had to retool the starting rotation.

Dylan Cease and Michael King were about to become free agents and Yu Darvish wouldn’t return following elbow surgery that would sideline for more than a year. Down went three major contributors to a Friars team that finished 90-72, second in the NL West.

The good news was that Preller could expect to have Joe Musgrove back to join right-handers Nick Pivetta and Randy Vasquez as rotation returnees following his Tommy John surgery after the 2024 season. Even still, the rotation was in a precarious position entering the offseason.

Let’s break down what was done and where the rotation stands as spring training begins.

Who Was Scheduled to Come Back?

Pivetta, Darvish and Vasquez were in the postseason rotation, with left-handers Kyle Hart and JP Sears other regular starters from 2025 who would be counted on in 2026. Gone were Cease, King and left-hander Nestor Cortes, all free agents.

Pivetta had a career year in his first season with the Friars, going 13-5 with a 3.49 FIP (2.87 ERA) with career bests of 190 strikeouts and 181â…” innings. He had a 6.9% walk rate, improved from his 8.4% career mark, and 26.4% strikeout rate, right on line with the 26% for his career. In his 31 starts, he limited opposing batters to a career-best .583 OPS, including a .193 batting average, also his career low. That earned him a sixth-place finish in the NL Cy Young Award balloting.

Darvish started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series vs. the Cubs, but had been experiencing elbow discomfort for much of the season. He made just 15 starts and had the internal brace procedure that reduces the recovery time by a couple months. Darvish, who had Tommy John surgery in 2015, entered the offseason as a 39-year-old, thus putting his future in doubt. With a report that retirement is a distinct possibility, Darvish’s tenure as a Padres player seems over, although his legacy is strong.

Vasquez had a solid season, though his 4.85 FIP suggests his 3.84 ERA was a little better than it should have been. Vasquez doesn’t do anything special, so he’s more or less expected to just eat innings. He could stand to use certain pitches more to be effective and overcome his lack of velocity and stuff. He already has a 39.4% groundball rate on balls in play, so leaning into that aspect could be a positive for him.

The 33-year-old Hart made his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox in 2020 and then didn’t have another appearance in the bigs until making the Padres’ Opening Day roster in 2025. He made five starts before being sent to Triple-A El Paso, then came back for a spot start in May before going back down. Hart stayed in the minors until coming up in late August to make 11 relief appearances.

Sears was the other player the Friars picked up in the Mason Miller trade. He wasn’t that good in 22 starts with the A’s, playing in a minor-league stadium, and didn’t improve in five starts with the Padres. In those combined 27 starts, he had a 5.21 FIP, posting 6.3% walk and 18% strikeout rates.

Who Was Added?

King was given the qualifying offer, but surprisingly returned to the Padres on a three-year, $75 million deal in which he could opt-out after 2026. That was a huge mid-December move that solidified the rotation, giving the Friars a top three of Pivetta, King and Musgrove. Injuries limited King to 15 starts, which likely dampened his value in free agency as well as the price for signing a player with a qualifying offer.

He wasn’t as good in 2025 as he was in 2024, his first year in San Diego after coming back in the Juan Soto trade with the New York Yankees. Still, he registered a 4.42 FIP with 8.4% walk and 24.7 strikeout rates.

Candidates to Join the Rotation

The only other true candidate on the 40-man roster is right-handed knuckleballer Matt Waldron, who made just one MLB start and 21 in the minors. That came after 26 starts (27 appearances) with the Friars in 2024 (4.26 FIP). The only other 40-man member listed as a starter is right-hander Miguel Mendez, who was rocked in six starts at Double-A San Antonio in 2025, so the 23-year-old is at least another year away.

A few intriguing possibilities were given minor-league contracts with invites to spring training. Those include left-hander Marco Gonzales and right-hander Triston McKenzie.

Gonzales didn’t pitch in 2025 after having flexor tendon surgery in September 2024, a season in which he made seven starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a really good stretch from 2018-20 with the Seattle Mariners. McKenzie seemed to have a bright future after a really nice 2022 season, but injuries and ineffectiveness led to him being designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians early in 2025, then spending the rest of the season in the minors before becoming a free agent. Left-hander Omar Cruz is another possibility.

The Bottom Line

Preller is likely to add to this group in the near future. He needs to. Pitchers get hurt. This group is thin — very thin. The Friars used 11 starters in 2025 and right now it is tough to find depth that you can have any confidence in beyond maybe eight of the names mentioned.

Pivetta, King and Musgrove at the top of the rotation is a pretty good trio. Vasquez as a No. 4 is solid without much more of an upside at the moment. That leaves the No. 5 spot up for grabs. With those four being right-handers, bringing in another left-hander would be prudent. But the top free agents still on the market are all right-handers: Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt and Zack Littell. No matter how he does it, adding another viable rotation member needs to be Preller’s top priority before Opening Day.

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