Padres' Fifth Starter Competition Likely Down to 3 Players

The most important competition at San Diego Padres camp this spring is the battle for the fifth spot in the starting rotation.

Nick Pivetta, Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Randy Vásquez will take up the first four spots in the rotation on Opening Day. The fifth spot is a competition between five guys currently in Padres camp: Germán Márquez, Walker Buehler, JP Sears, Triston McKenzie and Marco Gonzales.

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Sears was acquired by the team at last year's trade deadline while the other four were offseason additions. Two more players — the returning Matt Waldron and offseason addition Griffin Canning — are expected to start the season on the injured list but could factor into the rotation plans early in the year.

While the aforementioned five players entered camp battling for one spot in the rotation, it appears the competition is likely about to shrink.

Of the five players, three of them — Márquez, Buehler and Gonzales — have the right to reject a minor league assignment (although Gonzales needs to have an offer to join another team's MLB roster). Sears and McKenzie, on the other hand, can be optioned to the minor leagues — and they've also struggled the most out of the five pitchers.

Sears has made three appearances, allowing seven runs over 6.2 innings for a 9.45 ERA. He's allowed four home runs and four walks.

McKenzie has also made three appearances, allowing six earned runs over 4.1 innings for a 12.46 ERA. He's walked seven with six strikeouts.

The struggles of both pitchers coupled with their ability to be optioned has likely turned this into a three-player race for the No. 5 spot.

Buehler made his Cactus League debut this past week, allowing two earned runs over three innings with four strikeouts. He said he's finally pain-free after 2022 Tommy John surgery.

Márquez struggled in his first outing but was great on Friday against the Chicago Cubs, pitching three scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

Gonzalez followed Márquez on Friday with three scoreless innings of his own, punching out five. His first two outings, however, did not go well.

The Padres still have just under three weeks to make the decision, one that will likely be between Buehler, Márquez and Gonzales barring any last-minute trades.

At this point, there's no clear frontrunner — but what is starting to become clear is that both Sears and McKenzie will likely open the season in the minor leagues.

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