AJ Preller doubles down on under-the-radar Padres lefty weapon in latest move

If you were building a list of Padres arms most likely to get a multi-year look, Kyle Hart probably wouldn’t have cracked the top five. Maybe not the top ten. He doesn’t light up Pitching Ninja, he doesn’t come with a first-round pedigree, and his 2025 ERA in San Diego looks more ordinary than overpowering at first glance. And yet, when the front office had a decision to make on a niche lefty with a funky mix and a sweeper that lives off the barrel, A.J. Preller chose to lean in rather than walk away — bringing Hart back on a one-year deal with a club option for 2027.

It’s a very “Padres” bet, but not in the splashy way fans are used to. This isn’t about chasing another headlining arm; it’s about doubling down on a specific, under-the-radar weapon the organization thinks it understands better than the rest of the league. The Padres saw Hart’s year as a blend of noise and signal. A rough overall line masking a profile that can quietly tilt matchups in your favor.

Padres’ low-key Kyle Hart deal might matter more than fans think

Hart, who’s heading into his age-33 season, is coming off a 2025 run in San Diego where he basically did a little bit of everything. He opened the year as the No. 5 starter, and the Padres walked out winners in all three of his first turns through the rotation from March 31 to April 12. Two of his first three big-league wins came in that stretch, capped by six scoreless frames of one-hit work against the Rockies that felt like a “who is this guy?” moment at Petco Park. The surface line settled at a 3–3 record, 5.86 ERA and 37 strikeouts over 43 innings, but that’s only part of the story.

Once the Padres shifted Hart into a full-time relief role, the outlines of the pitcher they’re paying for started to come into focus. Over his final 14 outings out of the bullpen from early July through late September, he logged 17 1/3 innings with a 4.67 ERA, two holds and a microscopic .150 opponents’ average. Nine of those 14 appearances were spotless on the scoreboard. At home, the fit was even clearer: in 11 games at Petco Park, Hart allowed 11 earned runs in 25 1/3 innings (a 3.91 ERA) while holding hitters to a .169 average. That’s the kind of performance you can actually game-plan around in a park built for pitching.

Hart gives the Padres something they’ve been missing: a lefty who doesn’t just hang in against same-side hitters, he wipes them out. Among National League southpaws who faced at least 55 left-handed batters, he held them to a .529 OPS — one of the 15 lowest marks in that group. Come October, when lineups start stacking left-handed bats in the biggest spots, a guy who can come in, lean on the sweeper, and make those pockets vanish is worth a lot more than his full-season ERA lets on.

The sweeper is the real hook here. Hart leaned on the pitch more than any other offering in 2025, throwing it roughly a third of the time. Opponents managed just seven hits in 53 at-bats against it — a .132 average that tied for one of the ten lowest marks against any sweeper in the league for pitchers who threw at least 200 of them. 

Preller’s decision to bring Hart back on a one-year pact with a club option for 2027, even after declining his previous option earlier in the offseason, reflects a front office trying to thread the needle between flexibility and upside. If Hart settles in as a specialized bullpen piece who dominates lefties, the contract is a bargain.

For a fanbase conditioned to look for the next blockbuster move, a Kyle Hart reunion won’t move the needle like a Dylan Cease rumor or a frontline free agent splash. But this is the type of bet that can quietly swing a handful of games over a long season. If the Padres are going to claw their way back into the top tier of the National League, they’ll need the stars, yes. But they’ll also need this move, a front office doubling down on a weapon most people barely see coming.