Padres Cut Ties With Rookie, Officially Activate Nick Pivetta After Nearly 5-Month Absence

The San Diego Padres made an exciting roster move ahead of Monday's series opener against the Washington Nationals.

Right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta has officially been activated off the 60-day injured list to start Monday night's game.

In order to make room on the active roster, right-handed pitcher Jhony Brito was optioned to Triple-A El Paso.

To make room on the 40-man roster, rookie catcher Blake Hunt was designated for assignment.

We have reinstated RHP Nick Pivetta from the 60-day IL and optioned RHP Jhony Brito to Triple-A El Paso. To make room on the 40-man roster, C Blake Hunt has been designated for assignment.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 7, 2026

Nick Pivetta Returns to Padres After Extended Absence

Pivetta, 33, left his fourth start of the season on April 12 due to an elbow injury. He was ultimately placed on the IL with a flexor strain in his right elbow, and has been out for nearly five months.

Pivetta endured a long road to recovery with major setbacks. He finally made his first rehab outing on Aug. 4, where he walked off the mound after just 14 pitches in a concerning scene.

The right-hander was shut down from throwing following that setback, and it appeared his season may be over. However, he was able to continue his rehab assignment on Aug. 25, and made another start on Aug. 30 before the Padres decided he was ready to return.

He pitched 4.1 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in his most recent start.

“His last outing, seeing the fastball command that he had and the command of all his pitches — his curveball got a little bit better, got his pitch count up to a spot that we felt comfortable bringing him up to the big leagues and seeing what he has," manager Craig Stammen said. "And then this is his chance to kind of get started, and then we’ll go from there with what the plan is after that.”

In his four starts before suffering the injury, Pivetta had a 4.50 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 18 innings. He's coming off a 2025 season in which he was the team's best starter after going 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA and 190 strikeouts over 181.2 innings.

Nick Pivetta Loses Player Option After Extended Absence

While Pivetta was able to return this year, his extended absence didn't come without a cost.

Since he was on the injured list for at least 130 consecutive days, a clause in his contract was triggered that turned his upcoming player options into team options.

Thus, the Padres will have a $14 million club option for Pivetta for the 2027 season. If they pick it up, they'll have an $18 million option for him in 2028.

Padres Option Jhony Brito, DFA Blake Hunt

As for the corresponding moves, Brito has made five appearances at the big league level this season, sporting a 3.00 ERA with six strikeouts to one walk over nine innings.

Hunt, 27, made his MLB debut on June 19 as a defensive replacement and had his first three plate appearances in the big leagues on June 20, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. He was optioned a few days later.

The former second-round pick of the Padres in 2017 was hitting .301 across 42 games in Triple-A this season with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs and an OPS of .997.

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