PEORIA, Ariz. —,The Padres waited and waited. And they … waited … some more.

When on Monday morning, hours before spring training concluded, they became the last of the 30 MLB teams to name an opening-day starter, it was the guy it was going to be all along:

Nick Pivetta.

“He was our best pitcher throughout the whole entire last season, was our number one starter when we took on the Cubs in the Wild Card Series,” manager Craig Stammen said. “He has pitched great in spring training, and he deserves to get the opening-day nod.”

Thursday’s start against the Detroit Tigers will be Pivetta’s first on opening day.

“You just kind of look at the guys that have gotten opening days in the past that I played with, they’re all great pitchers, great human beings,” Pivetta said. “So it’s just an honor to be able to get that. And hopefully I can just start off with a good start. … It’s always fun to have firsts in the big leagues. This is another one. I’m excited for it.”

The 33-year-old right-hander set the pace for the rotation in 2025. He was the Padres’ most consistent starter, and he ranked among the league leaders in virtually every category.

That included being tied for ninth among MLB starters in ERA (2.87) and ranking fifth in WHIP (0.98), 13th in strikeout percentage (26.4%) and 18th in innings pitched (181⅔).

That took the mystery out of who would be on the mound when 2026 began — until a bout of arm fatigue caused the Padres to skip Pivetta’s scheduled third start in early March.

That resulted in him making just four Cactus League starts and reaching 71 pitches in four-plus innings in his final spring outing on Friday. Michael King threw 91 pitches over five innings Sunday in his fifth start of spring.

“We were deciding between him and Michael, and part of (the delay in announcing the opening-day starter) was Nick’s little break that he took and whether we felt comfortable with him (having) not as high a pitch count as Michael, taking the ball on opening day,” Stammen said. “So we weighed all the options and stuck with what we felt like going into spring training was the guy that deserved to pitch on opening day. … The opening-day starter has a lot to do with what you’ve done the past year.”

King will start Friday and Randy Vásquez on Saturday.

The Padres are off Sunday, and Walker Buehler will pitch Monday or Tuesday. Germán Márquez is expected to be the Padres’ fifth starter.