The San Diego Padres are trying to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, and so far, through the first week of the 2026 MLB season, it’s not going well.

The Dodgers are 4-2, while the Padres are 2-4, tied with the Colorado Rockies for last in the West. While the offense isn’t terrible, and the bullpen is elite, the back-end of the starting rotation is still a big problem.

As MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell notes, the Padres back-end starters, specifically Walker Buehler and German Marquez, are a “serious concern” for the Padres going forward this year.

Padres have ‘serious concern’ with two SP

“The back of the rotation is a serious concern,” Cassavell writes. “… The question marks come in the rotation – and thus far, Walker Beuhler and German Marquez have done little to answer them.”

The Padres got both a good and bad start from Nick Pivetta and a scoreless five-inning outing from Michael King. Randy Vasquez was great against the Detroit Tigers, striking out eight in six scoreless innings.

But the Padres have two major question marks at the back-end of their rotation. German Marquez and Walker Buehler are currently the No. 4 and 5 starters, and neither has been good this season.

Buehler allowed three runs in 4.0 innings of work on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Marquez allowed four runs in 3.0 innings of work on eight hits and one walk with one strikeout.

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In their combined seven innings of work, the two Padres starters have allowed seven earned runs for a 9.00 ERA. It’s far from an ideal start, as the Padres need both to be a lot better this season.

Joe Musgrove and Griffin Canning are working their way back from injury, but in the meantime, both Buehler and Marquez will need to turn things around.

Whether it’s a free agent, a trade pickup, a minor league call-up, one of Canning or Musgrove returning, or simply Buehler or Marquez pitching better, the Padres need more from their fourth and fifth starters this season.

It’s a bad start to 2026 for the Padres rotation from the fourth and fifth slots, as their combined ERA across seven innings of work is 9.00.

This back-end of the rotation is a serious concern for the Padres, and something that needs to be resolved in the coming weeks if the Padres want a chance to make the postseason.

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