Why the Padres’ 2026 Season Could Surprise Everyone — and What It Means for MLB’s Future

Why the Padres’ 2026 Season Could Surprise Everyone — and What It Means for MLB’s Future

Starting pitchers

This is the one area where the Padres, on paper, appear to be behind last season. With a starting group of Dylan Cease, Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Randy Vasquez, an injured Yu Darvish and Kyle Hart the Padres were taking a big swing with hoping that Cease, King, Darvish, Pivetta and Vasquez would carry them through, and Hart could be a depth piece. On paper that looked serviceable.

We didn’t know that Darvish had a torn UCL and Cease would be ineffective through parts of the year. We didn’t know that King would get hurt after being dominant for a couple months and Hart would flame out as a starter and be shuttled between the bullpen and Triple-A.

Pivetta stepped forward and carried the load for this team, allowing Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert to get starts and shine. Vasquez, who struggled early on and wasn’t sharp, came on late in the season and helped prop up the rotation.

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