Padres Pitcher Highlighted as Breakout Ace of 2025

It's not an exaggeration to say that Nick Pivetta has been one of the best signings of the offseason thus far based on his first month with the Padres.

After inking a 4-year deal with the Friars, Pivetta has been brilliant — going 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA. He's allowed only 21 hits in 35.1 innings pitched. His mixing of pitches has been terrific, and his command has been as good as it's been throughout his career.

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Nick Pivetta is 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA. He leads the NL with a .169 opponent's batting average. He's second with a 0.80 WHIP.

The Padres have nailed most of their SP acquisitions in recent years. Pivetta is pitching like the latest big hit.

Full episode: https://t.co/ugMXKlsG49 pic.twitter.com/vGiGCqP9cx
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) April 30, 2025

ESPN's Jeff Passan broke down the early season trends throughout the league. Of course, Pivetta was mentioned, and Passan highlighted his ability to limit allowing homers — something that's plagued him virtually his entire career.

"The 32-year-old Pivetta has spent upward of a decade tantalizing evaluators with his stuff and always found himself done in by the home run ball," Passan writes. "In 35⅓ innings this season, he has given up two homers, and three of his six outings ended after seven shutout innings. The best part of Pivetta's game: He's getting tremendous amounts of in-zone swing-and-miss, a testament to the quality of his stuff."

The Padres hitting on Pivetta was crucial. With Yu Darvish making his way back from injury, coupled with his age, he's not a surefire bet to be the ace San Diego has leaned on him to be in recent years.

Along with that, Dylan Cease has been a bit erratic to start the year. Joe Musgrove being out due to Tommy John surgery also makes Pivetta's emergence essential.

Nick Pivetta through 6 starts with the @Padres:

35.1 IP
21 H
1.78 ERA (7 ER)
39 K
.169 BAA@markdero7 takes a deep dive into San Diego's right-hander and his dominant heater. pic.twitter.com/BTQ6pDltMp
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 30, 2025

When looking ahead to a possible playoff series, the Padres have a very capable four-man group featuring Darvish, Pivetta, Cease, and Michael King. Pivetta is looking like a virtual ace at the moment, and having to face this quartet in a short series appears to be a serious challenge for any team in the National League — even the rival Dodgers should the two clubs square off again versus one another.

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