Padres Manager Not Ready to Give Up on Struggling Pitcher Yet

The start of the 2026 season hasn't gone according to plan for the San Diego Padres, and it's been a struggle from the starting rotation. This was the big question mark for the team entering the season, and so far, the expected issue has rung true.

Right-handers Michael King and Randy Vásquez have performed well so far, giving the team some hope. But others within the starting rotation have struggled heavily, including veteran righty Germán Márquez, who made his debut with the Padres on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants.

Márquez only lasted three innings against the Giants, allowing eight hits, four runs, one walk and two home runs with one strikeout. It was an outing to forget for the veteran arm, and his performance didn't justify him winning the fifth rotation spot this spring.

However, Padres manager Craig Stammen isn't ready to give up on Márquez after just one start. Stammen believes in his guys and is confident that the veteran will be just fine.

“You try not to judge people on one outing, especially a three-inning outing or a four-inning outing,” Stammen said. “These guys are big-league pitchers, and we’ll try to hopefully give them a little bit of a chance to prove themselves before we come to any rash decisions on that stuff.”

Over his career in the big leagues, Márquez has been very up-and-down in terms of his success on the mound. Márquez had spent his entire MLB career as a member of the Colorado Rockies, but he signed with San Diego this offseason in the hope of making the rotation.

His outings in spring were also mixed, but Stammen believed that the veteran could be a crucial part of the starting rotation. In 16.1 innings of work during the spring, Márquez posted an ERA of 7.16.

San Diego doesn't have many other options to throw out on the mound right now due to injuries and a lack of depth. So for now, Márquez will likely get some more run to prove he can turn things around.

The best season of Márquez's career came back in 2018 with the Rockies, when he had an ERA of 3.77 over 33 starts. Generally, he has held an ERA over 4.00 during his MLB career, but the Padres were hoping that getting him out of the hitter-friendly Coors Field could help bring that down.

The Padres will look for better results from Márquez in his next start. If he doesn't bounce back soon, San Diego may be forced to make some changes to the pitching plan.