Padres Transfer Pitcher to 60-Day IL to Make Room for Lucas Giolito

The San Diego Padres signed free agent starting pitcher Lucas Giolito to a one-year, $3 million deal with incentives on Wednesday.

To make room on the 40-man roster for the right-hander, the Padres transferred pitcher Bryan Hoeing to the 60-day injured list.

To make room on the 40-man roster, we have transferred RHP Bryan Hoeing to the 60-day IL.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 22, 2026

Hoeing was ruled out for the year in March after it was revealed he would have to undergo surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right arm. The reliever had a phenomenal performance with the Padres after being acquired at the 2024 trade deadline alongside Tanner Scott.

The right-hander posted a 1.52 ERA across 23.2 innings pitched for San Diego that season. In 2025, Hoeing was limited, as he tossed just eight innings for the Padres because he was plagued by injuries.

And in 2026, injuries once again have hindered Hoeing from making a big impact in the bullpen.

“It’s a bummer because he’s someone that could have really been a big part of our bullpen, filled a lot of different roles,” manager Craig Stammen said in March. “What we saw from him in 2024 in the playoffs, how much better he made our team, our bullpen, how well he fit in — it really felt like we had an ace in the hole with him in the ‘pen.”

What Does the Padres Rotation Look Like With Lucas Giolito?

Giolito was the best starting pitcher available on the free agent market and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was quickly in pursuit of the right-hander once Nick Pivetta landed on the IL.

The former Boston Red Sox pitcher is coming off a 2025 campaign where he went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA across 145 innings with 121 strikeouts.

The Padres rotation currently features Michael King, Randy Vásquez, Walker Buehler, Germán Márquez and Matt Waldron. Giolito is set to begin an assignment with Single-A Lake Elsinore, where he'll begin to ramp up.

Giolito isn't expected to make his Padres debut until mid-May. He has to be added to the active roster within 25 days.

Once the right-hander is ready to make his first start of the 2026 season, the Padres will have to decide who Giolito should replace in the rotation. If all five starters remain healthy until Giolito is ready to return, Waldron seems to be the obvious candidate to get sent back down to the minors.

However, Griffin Canning is expected to return sooner rather than later (potentially by the first week of May), which would likely mean Waldron is already out of the rotation anyway. That would leave Buehler and Márquez as potential options to get cut from the unit in order to give Giolito a slot in the order.

The Padres could also utilize a six-man rotation if they wanted to keep all five starters plus Giolito. However, the next few weeks will likely be critical for both Buehler and Márquez to maintain spots in the rotation.

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