Nick Pivetta's Triumphant Return to Padres Deserves Celebration (and A Little Skepticism)

Should San Diego Padres fans be excited over Nick Pivetta’s performance in his first MLB start since April? Of course. Should Padres fans also be skeptical of Pivetta’s outing? A little dose wouldn’t hurt at the moment.

But for one day, the 33-year-old right-hander reminded everyone why he was the team’s Opening Day starter earlier this year. Pivetta threw five shutout innings in the Padres’ 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday at Petco Park. Not bad for a guy who walked off the mound at Low-A Lake Elsinore on Aug. 4 after just 14 pitches when his pitching elbow didn’t feel right.

Now, everyone is thinking the best of what Pivetta can provide the Padres as they battle the Arizona Diamondbacks for the third and final NL wild-card berth. With Monday’s win, the Padres remained a half-game behind the Diamondbacks with the two teams set to play the final three games of the regular season at Petco Park.

Reasons For Optimism Over Nick Pivetta

Despite the importance of this outing, Pivetta never showed that the moment got the best of him. His first two pitches of the game were 93.8 mph four-seamers to Nationals star James Wood, who grounded out to second. The velocity was right on par with what he averaged in his first four starts of the season (94.1 mph) before he walked off the mound after three pitches in the fourth inning April 12 vs. the Colorado Rockies and went on the IL the next day.

He wasn’t overly amped. The 93.8 mph was exactly what he averaged in the entire 2025 season. Pivetta isn’t an overpowering pitcher. Last year’s four-seamer ranked in the 41st percentile in MLB. But he gets outs, which is what he did Monday.

Pivetta’s velocity was fairly consistent in the first inning, only going down to 92.9 mph. He only needed seven pitches to retire the first three batters he faced. The second inning also saw him retire the side in order as he was able to effectively mix in his high-spin curveball to complement his four-seamer, which got up to 95.3 mph and dipping to 92.6. Pivetta got another groundout and finished the inning with a called third strike that was confirmed on a challenge. Two innings, 21 pitches.

The third inning was where he encountered his first difficulty. After Keibert Ruiz lined out to Fernando Tatis Jr. on the warning track in right field, No. 8 hitter Jorbit Vivas lined an opposite-field single to right on a 92 mph cutter, the first batter to reach against Pivetta. After a foul-out to Tatis, Wood came up for the second time and Pivetta fell behind 2-1 before Wood lined a 94.5 mph four-seamer one hop off the wall in right for a double, putting runners on second and third with two outs. The next batter grounded to first baseman Ty France, who took care of business as Pivetta showed some emotion crossing the first-base line. His four-seamer that inning ranged from 92.9 to 94.5 mph.

Pivetta entered the fourth inning at 43 pitches. With his last rehab outing going 64 pitches after 35 pitches five days before that, you weren’t really sure how long of a leash manager Craig Stammen was going to give Pivetta. The Padres scored twice in the bottom of the third to give him a 3-0 cushion and he used the confidence from that to retire the next three batters on 12 pitches.

Whether he knew it or not, the fifth would be his last inning. Nationals hitters remained aggressive and it only took him eight pitches to get the final three batters out. His velocity was down, though, throwing three four-seamers at 91.7, 92.3 and 92.5 mph. He was in line for the win, but Stammen and the Padres had seen enough.

While he only struck out two in his 63 pitches, he did get five groundouts, two pop-ups and four fly-outs as he retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced. Another positive from both perspectives is that Stammen had Ethan Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, handle Pivetta's start instead of Freddy Fermin or Luis Campusano. It makes sense since Salas caught Pivetta in his last rehab outing, which was also Salas' last minor-league game before being promoted.

Reasons For Skepticism Over Nick Pivetta

The Nationals have one of the top offenses in MLB. They rank second in runs scored, homers and slugging percentage, while tops in extra-base hits. So keeping them off-balance over five innings is definitely an accomplishment.

But you also have to consider the circumstances under which this took place. A 2:10 p.m. first pitch Monday came after the Nationals played Sunday up the 5 Freeway against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a game that started at 7:10 p.m., a rare starting time for a Sunday game. Now, this wasn’t as bad as a trip that required a flight, but it wouldn't be surprising if the Nationals had a travel hangover that affected them as they faced Pivetta.

Aside from that consideration, Pivetta was not overpowering in the least. He only generated one whiff on 25 swings (4%), getting it on a four-seamer. Last year, Pivetta had a 23.8% whiff rate on his four-seamer and 35.3% on his curve. That did not manifest against the Nationals. His curve, while good, had a slightly lower spin rate than in 2025, while his four-seamer was right on last year. His cutter and sweeper were also down.

Chalk that up to not yet being in excellent game shape. Aside from the early exit from his very first rehab outing, Pivetta only had two other appearances in the minors before Monday. Typically, a starter has four or five games to build up stamina and perfect their pitches. Bringing back Pivetta early has the feel of a rehab assignment in the majors instead of at Triple-A.

That would also account for his velocity range. While his cutter was up slightly, his four-seamer (0.5 mph), curve (0.9) and sweeper (1.6) were down. Again, that could be rectified with more work. But with that work coming in games that count for the Padres as they chase a spot in the postseason.

What Should Padres Fans Think About Nick Pivetta’s Start?

Ride the vibes—Pivetta has looked good in all three games since the Aug. 4 scare. While not as sharp as he needs to be for the postseason, he has three more starts in the rest of the regular season, including Sunday against the San Francisco Giants. The last of those would be the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pivetta’s return has bumped right-hander Randy Vasquez from the rotation to the bullpen, which gives the Padres a very quality option for multiple innings. Vasquez is deserving of a rotation spot, but Pivetta has earned the right due to his ace-like performance in 2025, when he had a 3.49 FIP (2.25 ERA) and posted a 5.0 bWAR, finishing sixth in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

Getting a quality Pivetta back alongside Michael King, Walker Buehler, Ray and Mize puts the Padres in prime position to make a deep run in October.

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