The Padres’ biggest question just got a bit more complicated.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta walked off the mound with a trainer in the top of the fourth inning at Petco Park with elbow stiffness.

Nick Pivetta exited with an injury after retiring the first nine Rockies hitters he faced pic.twitter.com/4ZeQTUFYMi

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 12, 2026

Pivetta was topping 95 mph in the first inning Sunday, but a drop to 92.2 mph on his four-seamer for two fastballs thrown to Eduoard Julian to start the fourth inning prompted manager Craig Stammen and head athletic trainer Mark Rogow to visit him on the mound.

It was a brief conversation, with Pivetta biting his glove while speaking with Rogow before exiting the game.

Pivetta struck out four over three no-hit innings to begin Sunday’s game, as he’s looked more and more like the 2025 version of him following an opening-day clunker (3 IP, 6 ER).

A career year in 2025 saw Pivetta lead the Padres rotation with 13 wins, a 2.87 ERA, 190 strikeouts and 181⅔ innings.

For a team that lost Dylan Cease to free agency, re-signed Michael King after an injury-plagued year and was hoping for the continued maturation of Randy Vásquez and Joe Musgrove’s seamless return from Tommy John surgery, Pivetta began the 2026 season a something of at least a known commodity, although he’d have to prove last year was not a one-off.

That was at least something to build around while figuring out what Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez could offer to the back of the rotation.

Now, if Pivetta is forced to miss time, the Padres will have to further dip into the depth pooling below the majors.

Knuckleballer Matt Waldron could be first up, as he’s thrown 12 shutout innings across three rehab starts for Triple-A El Paso, including 58 pitches over five shutout innings on Thursday. He is returning from a spring surgery on his lower half, which knocked him out of the competition for a spot in the back of the rotation.

Right-hander Griffin Canning (Achilles) is also rehabbing at Triple-A El Paso. But he’s just two starts into  that process and likely won’t be an option before May, while Musgrove has yet to resume throwing bullpens following his spring setback.

This story will be updated.