Matt Waldron's strong spring could foreshadow a spot in the Padres' starting rotation

The 2024 season was off to a decent start for Matt Waldron. Holding an ERA in the mid-3.00 range halfway through July, he was growing into what appeared to be a reliable pitcher before the wheels starting coming off in August. Unfortunately, he was demoted for a month and he didn't particularly shine in four starts with Triple-A El Paso.

There were definitely some question marks surrounding the knuckle-baller coming into 2025, but Waldron is already wiping away the skepticisms. Coming into the spring with a positive attitude at San Diego's camp, Waldron has impressed through two outings.

The Padres have only played seven spring games, but Waldron is getting plenty of time on the mound, hinting at his likeliness of landing in the starting rotation. They want to see where he's at, and judging by the way he's thrown so far in a pair of starts, San Diego would be remiss to leave him off of the staff.

Matt Waldron has looked strong this spring in audition for spot in Padres' rotation

On Thursday, February 27 against the A's, Waldron became the first Padre pitcher to throw at least three innings this spring. He fired three scoreless frames, doing so behind two strikeouts, one hit, and one walk. Waldron twirled a 1-2-3 frame in the first inning in San Diego's 6-4 loss, then induced two inning-ending double-play balls in the second and third innings.

He worked quickly, and he was able to erase Nike Goodrum's error at third base in the third frame on a come-backer to start the double play. Waldron ended his day with a strikeout looking on Esteury Ruiz, who doesn't strikeout very often.

Through five spring innings, Waldron has only thrown one bad pitch. In the first inning of his first outing, he hung an 0-2 knuckleball, which resulted in an RBI single from Tyler Soderstrom. Besides that, Waldron has looked composed on the hill. That is a tremendous sign for a pitcher who started tailing off towards the end of last season.

If Waldron can keep his hot streak going, then Padres fans can expect him to be slotted in the bottom of the rotation behind Yu Darvish, Dylan Cease, Michael King, and Nick Pivetta. Waldron will likely compete against Stephen Kolek, Kyle Hart, and Jhony Brito for the last spot, but following an offseason when the Friars missed out on the opportunity to sign some bigger-named pitchers, Waldron stepping up and being the clear-cut No. 5 would be a breath of fresh air.