Padres' Nick Pivetta Appears Headed to Injured List Based on Latest Developments

San Diego Padres right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta appears headed to the injured list, based on the latest developments on Tuesday.

Firstly, right-handed pitcher Matt Waldron has a locker in the team's clubhouse ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Seattle Mariners, hinting at a roster move.

While nothing is confirmed yet, if Waldron were joining the team, it would likely be as a replacement for Pivetta, who left his Sunday start with an elbow injury.

But that's not the only sign of a potential Pivetta move.

On Tuesday, The Athletic published a report saying the Padres were interested in free agent pitcher Lucas Giolito since Pivetta was "likely" headed to the injured list.

"Nick Pivetta, who exited Sunday’s start with what was initially described as right elbow stiffness, likely will need time on the injured list to recover," the report from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma read.

After Sunday's game, manager Craig Stammen was optimistic regarding Pivetta's status. In addition to the elbow stiffness, Pivetta was also under the weather.

“We’ll see how he feels,” Stammen said. “There’s a world where he makes his next start. So I think we’re optimistic that we caught it the right time, and then he just needs a little breather, maybe get healthy and get some vitamin C in him, and we’ll feel a little bit better.”

Pivetta, on the other hand, was a little more ominous in his comments.

“I think it’s too early to tell for me,” Pivetta said. “I just tried to go out there, do the best I could, get as deep in the baseball game as I possibly could. Obviously, didn’t feel good. I came out of the game."

He added: “To be honest, I’m perplexed. [The] human body is different. People feel things differently. I’m just trying to process it, work through it myself. I think the next coming days, I’ll probably see how it feels and be able to dictate what type of plan I want moving forward.”

Pivetta is the ace of the Padres staff, and has been dominant over his last 13 innings after a rough debut on Opening Day.

If he is forced to miss time, the Padres will have a major hole in their already questionable starting rotation.

Matt Waldron, Alek Jacob Have Lockers in Padres Clubhouse on Tuesday

In addition to Waldron, right-handed pitcher Alek Jacob also has a locker in the Padres clubhouse ahead of Tuesday's game.

It's currently unknown who the two pitchers would be replacing in potential roster moves. Waldron appears likely to replace Pivetta. Jacob's potential spot, however, is currently unclear.

Waldron was dominant on his rehab assignment in Triple-A, pitching 12 shutout innings with 12 strikeouts to one walk across three starts.

Jacob has also been dominant in Triple-A, pitching 7.1 scoreless innings over five appearances.

Update: Waldron told reporters he's starting on Friday, which is when Pivetta was scheduled to start. Jacob will likely help in the bullpen in the interim as Pivetta goes on the IL.

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