Going into the 2026 campaign, the San Diego Padres are seeking to stabilize their starting rotation. Joe Musgrove and Griffin Canning will open the season on the injured list, while Yu Darvish’s elbow surgery will cause him to miss the entire 2026 campaign.
In the meantime, the Padres will start Nick Pivetta on Opening Day and patiently wait for Michael King to return to form. If so, he will become the staff’s No. 1 starter. A young pitcher has the opportunity to prove his place in the rotation until
Musgrove is ready to come back.
Vasquez could save Padres from starting pitching woes
Randy Vasquez has positioned himself to exceed everyone’s 2026 expectations with an outstanding Spring Training. It was enough to impress Friars first-year manager Craig Stammen to move Vasquez up in the rotation order. And if he continues to dominate opposing lineups, it will be tough to take the young right-hander out of the third starter’s role.
Vasquez has shown several flashes of success during his time in San Diego. Coming off a 3.84 ERA last season, he came into camp throwing with newfound velocity. His four-seam fastball gained nearly three miles per hour after throwing it at 93.5 MPH in 2025.
Often, Vasquez was hitting 96 MPH, as he posted 8.2 innings of shutout baseball in early Cactus League contests. The third-year pitcher allowed only two hits and struck out eight batters. His strikeout rate was above 30%, as the hitter’s chase rate was nearly 40% in Arizona. It was higher than his career rate.
Spring Training does not answer all the questions
However, Vasquez did struggle in the later stages of Spring Training. Granted, pitchers are refining and simplifying their pitching repertoire. Vasquez was working to improve the effectiveness of his sweeper and curveball, the latter of which ranked in the 98th percentile for spin rate last season.
However, it might be time for Vasquez to phase out the cutter, as the pitch was continually getting pounded by hitters. You cannot ignore that his ERA rose to 4.86 at the tail end of the spring schedule.
Nevertheless, Vasquez was a standout performer, as he had an impressive 1.04 WHIP and a 15-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 18.1 innings pitched.
To have a breakout season, Vasquez must continue to pitch with the confidence he found in Peoria, Ariz. It is time to translate potential into wins this season.
