The 5 most random Opening Day starters for the Padres in the last 30 years

As a sign of good faith, the San Diego Padres are turning to Nick Pivetta to be their Opening Day starter this season. Under first-year manager Craig Stammen, Pivetta will become the fourth different pitcher to get the ball on Opening Day in as many seasons following a tremendous 2025 campaign that saw him finish sixth in the Cy Young race.

As we creep into Opening Week of the 2026 season, let's take a stroll down memory lane to recall some of the most random Opening Day starters for the Padres.

Reminsicing on the San Diego Padres' most random Opening Day starters in the last 30 seasons

1998: Kevin Brown

• Opponent: Cincinnati Reds, 10-2 win
• Final Opening Day line: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, WIN
• Season stats: 18-7, 2.38 ERA, 257 IP, 257 K, 49 BB

Kevin Brown is often forgotten about as one of the top pitchers of the 1990s. Mainly known as a Texas Ranger, Brown was traded from the Marlins to the Padres ahead of the 1998 season, which included San Diego parting ways with Derrek Lee.

Though Brown was a great pitcher, this one is particularly random because he spent one of his 19 MLB seasons with the Padres...and he straight-up dominated. In his age-33 season, he logged career-high numbers in bWAR (8.6) and strikeouts (257). He finished third in the Cy Young race and helped the Friars reach the World Series — where they have not been since Brown's departure. Brown was knocked around a bit by the Yankees in the World Series, but he combined for 46 strikeouts across 39.1 postseason innings.

2002: Kevin Jarvis

• Opponent: Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0 loss
• Final Opening Day line: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, LOSS
• Season stats: 2-4, 4.37 ERA, 35 IP, 24 K, 10 BB

Signed as a free agent ahead of the 2001 season, Jarvis was not quite San Diego's top starting pitcher of the early 2000s, but he found a way to get the Opening Day nod in 2002 despite coming off a 2001 campaign when he allowed the most home runs in the league (37) with a 4.79 ERA. An elbow injury kept Jarvis from pitching a full season in 2002. He would be on the Padres' roster for one more season before getting traded to the Mariners, a deal which saw the Padres acquire Jeff Cirillo and Brian Sweeney.

2010: Jon Garland

• Opponent: Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-3 loss
• Final Opening Day line: 4 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, LOSS
• Season stats: 14-12, 3.47 ERA, 200 IP, 136 K, 87 BB

It was a rough first impression for the 30-year-old Garland in his Padres debut. His loss was not indicative of his full 2010 campaign, though. He logged a career-best 3.47 ERA in his lone year with the Padres and fired seven scoreless innings four different times.

2017: Jhoulys Chacín

• Opponent: Los Angeles Dodgers, 14-3 loss
• Final Opening Day line: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 9 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, LOSS
• Season stats: 13-10, 3.89 ERA, 180.1 IP, 153 K, 72 BB

Chacín played for seven MLB teams across his 14-year career. He made a one-season pit stop with San Diego in 2017 amidst the dark ages of the franchise. He wasn't terrible in 2017, but he just happened to run into the Dodgers in his Friars debut, a team that went on to win 104 games behind six players with 20-plus home runs.

2018: Clayton Richard

• Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 loss
• Final Opening Day line: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Season stats: 7-11, 5.33 ERA, 158.2 IP, 108 K, 60 BB

Clayton Richard's story with the Padres will always be an interesting one. There was so much potential in the 6-foot-5 left-hander, but his command wasn't good enough to take that next step forward as a top-end starter. Twice in his career, he allowed the most hits in the league, including in 2017, which was his second stint with the Padres. Somehow, that earned him the ball on Opening Day in 2018. Richard had a strong start to the season, but he ultimately came back to earth and was traded in the offseason for Connor Panas.