Opening Day has finally arrived! Today, the Friar Faithful will flock to Petco Park once more for one of the most exciting days of the baseball calendar.
So many promises and expectations await to be fulfilled as the San Diego Padres seek to return to their third consecutive postseason. Many are projecting the Friars to finish fourth in the National League West, though MLB.com experts did just project them to take one of the NL Wild Card spots this season.
They’ll face one of the toughest pitchers
to open the season in Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. In large part, this opening series against the Tigers will test their mettle for the season ahead, showing if they’ve leveled up enough offensively to make it through this year.
Taking the mound
Tarik Skubal (DET) v. Nick Pivetta (SD)
The back-to-back American League Cy Young winner will take the mound for Detroit as the Padres ‘25 ace fights to stay in the game.
Pivetta is coming off the best season of his career but there’s a major question surrounding his ability to follow it up this year. If he can hold up against Skubal today, it’ll go a long way to building confidence in how his 2026 season will turn out.
Batter up!
After a lot of questions this spring surrounding how the Padres’ lineup will look, the Friar Faithful will finally get to see new manager Craig Stammen roll out his new-look squad.
The assumption is that newcomers Nick Castellanos and Miguel Andujar (who both mash against left-handed pitching) will start against Skubal. Castellanos and Gavin Sheets have been talked about in a first base platoon situation for most of the Cactus League season and will likely form that.
The only other question is who will leadoff. Many batters have been listed as possible (Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth), but Tatis is the likeliest option, followed by Bogaerts.
Earlier this spring, it felt like the lineup would look something like this:
- Xander Bogearts, SS
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Miguel Andujar, DH
- Nick Castellanos, 1B
- Freddy Fermin, C
But after Tatis returned from batting first in the World Baseball Classic, Stammen put him at the leadoff position in the team’s penultimate spring contest.
If he does return to the leadoff spot, Laureano could slot behind him given his experience (17 at-bats) against Skubal. That lineup would look more like this:
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Ramón Laureano, LF
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Miguel Andujar, DH
- Nick Castellanos, 1B
- Freddy Fermin, C
With Sung-Mun Song starting the season with a brief stint on the injured list, catcher Luis Campusano, Sheets, Ty France, and outfielder Bryce Johnson will be available for pinch-hit opportunities off the bench.
Relief corps
Everyone will (obviously) be available out of the bullpen today, with superstar Mason Miller set to close out the ninth. Behind him are high-leverage options Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon and David Morgan.
After hopes that he would be with the team by Opening Day, Jason Adam will start the season on the 15-day injured list. Yuki Matsui will join Adam and Bryan Hoeing will be out for the year following offseason surgery.
Given that, Wandy Peralta and Kyle Hart factor in as multi-inning options for the Friars.
Ron Marinaccio and top prospect Bradley Rodriguez will take the final two spots following fantastic performances this spring.
