Padres may open 2026 season with a rotation twist that creates one unexpected winner

The Padres still have questions on their starting rotation, and those have been present since the start of the offseason.

With Nick Pivetta under contract and the Padres re-signing Michael King, those two are the only constants in a world of uncertainty. The team will see the return of Joe Musgrove, who missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John Surgery.

Randy Vasquez and JP Sears will headline spots four and five in the back-end, but questions remain about how this group will perform come the regular season. With injuries (Musgrove) and uncertainty, Padres manager Craig Stammen gave us a hint at what to expect in 2026.

Padres may be cooking up an unorthodox rotation plan that changes everything early

“Everything is on the table,” Stammen said. “We want to do what’s best for them and what’s best for the team, and how we marry those two things is yet to be determined.”

Stammen could be hinting at using an opener for some of the starts, most likely Musgrove, as they look to limit the amount of innings he sees. They’d prefer to avoid overworking him, especially since he is coming off a serious elbow injury.

Michael King is also coming off an injury-riddled season, but not to the same extent as Musgrove. King missed time in 2025 with a thoracic nerve injury that lingered from May to August, and he only pitched 73.1 innings.

Depth is not working to the Padres advantage this season, and they must keep their key starters healthy throughout the entirety of 2026. If injuries become a problem for the rotation, the season could get out of hand quickly.

There aren’t any major pitching prospects coming up to save San Diego this season, and the approach that the team may be taking indicates that.

Spring training games are officially underway, and it will be interesting to see if the Padres are able to find any pitching talent that has a shot of making the big-league roster.