The 2-4 record at the end of the first week of the 2026 season reflected less than good execution on multiple levels for the San Diego Padres. The starters had one excellent performance from Randy Vasquez (six innings pitched, no runs and eight strikeouts) and an acceptable one from Michael King but Nick Pivetta, Walker Buehler and, especially, Germán Márquez left fans a bit panicked the first time through the rotation.
The defense wasn’t especially stellar overall, either. Miscommunications, bad
routes, throwing to the wrong base and errors/dropped balls contributed to both the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants tallying runs they shouldn’t have.
Then there was the offense.
Until the 7-1 win in the final game against the Giants, the offense was sorely lacking. They barely avoided a shutout with a ninth inning home run by Jackson Merrill in first game versus the Giants and were unable to score more than three runs in five of the six games.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts was quick to note that the Tarik Skubal they saw on Opening Day was not even the best Tarik Skubal. Logan Webb is the ace for the Giants and he was inconsistent until later in the game that the Padres lost 9-3.
Even the bullpen, definitely the strength of this team, had multiple hiccups over the first five games. First year manager Craig Stammen will learn as the season goes along, and bullpen management is the toughest part of his on-field job, but he made a few questionable decisions himself.
All this to say, things need to get cleaned up.
The road trip through Boston and Pittsburgh promises some rough weather but the Padres have to play better, despite the circumstances.
One other bright spot was the second start for Nick Pivetta in the win on the final day of the home stand. Throwing 82 pitches over five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, Pivetta looked the part of the ace he was for the Padres in 2025. You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief in San Diego.
Mason Miller
The Padres closer broke his consecutive hitless streak at 11.1 innings with a single in his save against the Giants on Wednesday. But he also extended his scoreless streak to 24 innings with that second save of the season.
Miller also debuted his new walk-out music as the Padres called on him to finish the 3-0 win against the Tigers on March 28. The start of the 1990s ńu-metal hit, “Blind,” by Korn played at the start of the ninth while Miller made his entrance and the lights went out at Petco. The new song is a hit with fans and quickly went viral all over baseball.
New attendance record at Petco Park
The Friar Faithful set a record during the first homestand of the 2026 season. Over the six sold-out games, the Padres averaged 43,665 per game and their total attendance set a new record for the franchise. It is the first time in history all the games of an opening series have sold out. They are once again second only to the Dodgers in attendance so far for the season. The 45,673 crowd that attended Opening Day was the largest of any in Petco Park history.
Injury updates
- Matt Waldron has started two games for the El Paso Chihuahuas, going a total of seven innings with no runs allowed and nine strikeouts. He is using all five of his pitches while relying heavily on his sinker and knuckleball for outs. In his second start he finished four innings and 61 pitches as he builds up to a starter workload.
- Jason Adam pitched a simulated game on March 31 in Lake Elsinore and threw 1.1 innings in a rehab outing with El Paso on March 28. He is scheduled to pitch in back-to-back games today and tomorrow in Tulsa, Okla. for the San Antonio Missions. He is eligible to return to the major league roster Monday.
- Griffin Canning pitched a three-inning simulated game in Lake Elsinore on March 30, throwing 50 pitches. He will start the San Antonio versus Tulsa, Okla. game on Saturday, his first start in a regular game as he builds up and tests his repaired Achilles.
- Yuki Matsui is in Arizona facing hitters in extended Spring Training. He has not had an appearance in a minor league game yet.
- Joe Musgrove resumed playing catch during the Padres opening week of games and has not thrown off a mound as of yet.
- Sung-Mun Song has played in five games with the El Paso Chihuahuas with a .211 average and .529 OPS with six strikeouts and three RBI. He has played 2B, SS and 3B on defense with the Chihuahuas.
