Projecting the Padres Pitching Rotation and Bullpen Before Opening Day

The San Diego Padres have all but finalized their 26-man roster for Opening Day. There is likely just one spot up for grabs in the bullpen, but at this point, it's pretty clear who will be on the roster come Thursday's season opener against the Detroit Tigers.

Here's the Padres' projected starting rotation and bullpen for the start of the 2026 season.

Padres Starting Rotation Projection

Nick Pivetta, RHP
Michael King, RHP
Randy Vásquez, RHP
Walker Buehler, RHP
Germán Márquez, RHP

Pivetta will take the mound in the first game of the season against Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal. King will pitch the second game, with Vásquez pitching the series finale.

Pivetta dealt with some arm fatigue this spring but was the obvious choice to pitch on Opening Day all spring. He was the team's best pitcher a year ago, finishing with a 2.87 ERA across 181.2 innings.

King missed nearly four months last season with a shoulder nerve issue and knee injury. He's hoping to put that all behind him in a bounce back 2026 campaign.

Vásquez was one of the team's most consistent pitchers last year, and is hoping to pick up where he left off as a stabilizer in an otherwise shaky rotation.

Then Buehler and Márquez are lined up to pitch the first two games of San Diego's second series of the year against the San Francisco Giants.

Both pitchers joined the team in February — Buehler on a minor league deal and Márquez on a major league one. Márquez's major league contract gave him the upper hand in the rotation competition this spring, but the setback to Joe Musgrove allowed both pitchers to make the roster.

Triston McKenzie, JP Sears and Marco Gonzales will start the year in Triple-A, continuing to build up as starting pitchers to serve as depth.

Padres Bullpen Projection

Mason Miller, RHP
Adrian Morejon, LHP
Jeremiah Estrada, RHP
Wandy Peralta, LHP
David Morgan, RHP
Kyle Hart, LHP
Bradgley Rodriguez, RHP
Ron Marinaccio, RHP

Miller will be the team's closer this season, and he and Morejon make up arguably the best 1-2 relief punch in MLB. Estrada will look to pick up where he left off last season, as will Peralta and Morgan.

The injury to Yuki Matsui paved a way for Hart to make the roster — and he ran with it by allowing just one run over 14 innings this spring for a 0.64 ERA.

The decision to have Jason Adam open the season on the injured list, as well as the injury to Bryan Hoeing, opened two more spots.

Rodriguez, a breakout candidate for 2026, and Marinaccio, who's out of options, will take up the final two spots. Both pitchers threw the ball well this spring, earning the final openings in the bullpen.

Rodriguez had a 1.69 ERA across 10.2 spring innings. Marinaccio had a 1.50 ERA across five Cactus League innings, while also allowing one run over 2.1 innings for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic.