Padres get Nick Pivetta back with his October role and 2027 future at stake

Nick Pivetta’s return basically begins a three-week job interview in the middle of a playoff chase. The first assignment comes September 7 against the Washington Nationals. The Padres enter the day half a game behind Arizona for the final NL Wild Card spot. The standings have eliminated any ceremonial element from Pivetta’s comeback.

He has missed nearly five months with a flexor strain in his right elbow. His final rehab start showed encouraging signs putting up 4 1/3 scoreless innings, seven strikeouts and 64 pitches for Triple-A El Paso. The Padres are expected to keep him near that workload in his return.

That gives Pivetta enough rope to show them something. 64 pitches doesn’t guarantee enough innings to control the game.

Padres have no October innings to give away

It’s easy to look back and revisit the version of Pivetta we saw last season. He posted a 2.87 ERA across 31 starts, finished sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting and entered 2026 as San Diego’s Opening Day starter.

He’s returning to a different rotation than the one he left at the beginning of the season. Michael King sits at the top. A.J. Preller added Robbie Ray and Casey Mize at the trade deadline. Walker Buehler and Randy Vásquez have also spent the past several weeks making their own cases. Craig Stammen plans to remain with a five-man rotation and could eventually trim it to four because of upcoming off-days. 

Let's say Pivetta comes out and shows strong command, he could quickly become King’s most trusted October partner. If he needs more time, Vásquez can piggyback behind him as a multi-inning safety net while strengthening an already deep bullpen.

If Pivetta wants to earn playoff innings, he has to take them from somebody. His first start also shouldn’t be graded solely by the box score. It’s more about if his stuff still plays. We’d love to see five scoreless innings. But it’s more about coming out healthy with solid recovery. 

Nick Pivetta’s 2027 future will be decided by the same audition

Pivetta’s extended IL stay converted his 2027 player option into a $14 million team option. The decision now belongs to the Padres. That contract protection kept the Friars from being trapped by an injured pitcher. A healthy Pivetta pitching anywhere near his 2025 level would make that option look reasonable, perhaps even attractive. Another setback, diminished stuff or an inability to handle a starter’s workload would make declining it much easier.

The best outcome would create two difficult decisions. Stammen would have to choose among several credible October starters, and Preller would have to think carefully before walking away from Pivetta this winter. Pivetta has a few weeks to make this team trust him twice. First with a playoff start and then with another season.

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