Padres Lineup vs Pirates: Ramon Laureano Leading Off, Nick Castellanos Starting

The San Diego Padres are continuing their road trip as they're in Pittsburgh for a three-game series with the Pirates.

The Pirates have been arguably the biggest surprise in baseball early this year, sitting at 6-3 and coming off a series sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.

The Padres, on the other hand, are 4-5, but coming off back-to-back wins against the Boston Red Sox as they put together their first win streak of the season. They'll look to keep it going Monday at PNC Park.

Padres vs Pirates Pitching Matchup on Monday

Right-handed pitcher Germán Márquez is making his second start for the Friars against Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler.

Márquez is coming off a rough Padres debut as he allowed four runs on eight hits with one strikeout while lasting just three innings against the San Francisco Giants.

He believes he was tipping pitches, though, and feels much more confident heading into Monday's start after cleaning things up.

“I was tipping a couple pitches,” Márquez said to the San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday. “I was working with [pitching coach Ruben Niebla] in the bullpen to make sure I’m not tipping. I’ve been watching videos.”

“I’m ready to go and prepared for the next one,” he added. “I’m ready to compete.”

As for Chandler, he's coming off an interesting 2026 debut in which he pitched 4.1 innings with six strikeouts but walked six against the Cincinnati Reds. Chandler was ranked as the team's No. 1 prospect last year, finishing with a 4.02 ERA across 31.1 big league innings.

Padres Starting Lineup

Ramón Laureano, LF
Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Jackson Merrill, CF
Manny Machado, 3B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Gavin Sheets, 1B
Nick Castellanos, DH
Freddy Fermin, C
Jake Cronenworth, 2B

Padres Facing Key 2025 Contributor

The Padres faced Luis Arraez last week in their series against the San Francisco Giants.

This week, it'll be Ryan O'Hearn, a 2025 trade deadline addition who joined the Pirates on a two-year, $29 million deal this offseason.

O'Hearn is off to a hot start in 2026, hitting .367 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and an OPS of 1.159.

He's batting fourth and playing right field on Monday.

How to Watch Padres vs Pirates on Monday

First pitch for the San Diego Padres vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game on Monday, April 6 is 3:40 p.m. PT/6:40 p.m. ET.

The Padres announced that games will also be available via cable on the following channels:

Cox (Channel 83)
DirecTV (Channel 694-3)
AT&T Uverse (Channel 781 or 1781)
Spectrum (Channel 305 or 443)

Games will be broadcast on the radio on 97.3 The Fan (in English) and XEMO 860 (in Spanish).