Padres starter's rotation-saving dominance totally vindicates offseason decision

Through three starts, Nick Pivetta has undoubtedly been the San Diego Padres' best pitcher. Signed to a late deal in February just ahead of spring training, Friars fans were not sure just yet if they were in love with Pivetta's four-year, $55 million deal.

Justifiably, Padres fans were coming off the wave of hoping their team would sign Roki Sasaki, so the club signing anyone else felt a bit like a second-place option. Right out of the gate, however, Pivetta has proven his worth, and San Diego's faithful is more than satisfied with how he's pitched, especially with Dylan Cease under-performing and Yu Darvish still injured.

Nick Pivetta's early dominance with Padres has fans satisfied with lofty contract

On Friday night against the Colorado Rockies, Pivetta fired seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in the Friars' 8-0 victory. Pivetta was locked in, dialing up seven of his 10 strikeouts with four-seam fastballs. He now has a 1.59 ERA in 17 innings alongside 18 strikeouts and an absurd 0.824 WHIP.

In two starts at Petco Park, he's reeled in 14 scoreless innings, providing a sense of consistency among a rotation with some question marks. Randy Vasquez has been solid, but his 12:6 walk-to-strikeout ratio proves that his 1.72 ERA will not last forever.

The two headline aces, Cease and Michael King, haven't quite been the stoppers that they were in 2024, but it's obviously still early. King has cashed in for one solid start among his three, and Cease has been pulled from two clunkers already. To Pivetta's credit, his presence has been a breath of fresh air.

Until the two big arms figure it out, and Darvish returns, Padres fans can hopefully continue to count on Pivetta keep the bullpen rested. San Diego's relievers have been the best in baseball so far, registering eight saves in eight opportunities with a 2.86 collective ERA and .188 batting average against. Ideally, the Padres starters can keep their relievers fresh, but it's only been Pivetta who has really done that so far. Friars fans are definitely thankful.