Nick Pivetta’s season took the long way around, from an April right-elbow injury that sidelined him for nearly five months to a postseason assignment under the Petco Park lights. Now healthy, stretched out and pitching like the starter San Diego expected, Pivetta will take the ball Wednesday night against the Cubs in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series.
It comes exactly one year after Pivetta faced Chicago in the opening game of the 2025 Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field. This time, the setting changes sharply: Petco Park, a home crowd behind him and a Padres club trying to turn another October appearance into a deeper run.
“We’re fortunate to have such an outstanding fan base,” Pivetta said. “The players who have been here before have told me what to expect. I’m really looking forward to it. My attention has to stay on the game, but I also want to enjoy it with those fans and try to deliver a championship for them.”
Pivetta rebuilt his season after the injury
The early returns had suggested Pivetta was carrying over the form that made 2025 the best season of his career. He finished sixth in National League Cy Young Award voting after posting a 2.87 ERA in 31 starts, but the elbow issue interrupted that momentum almost immediately.
Since coming off the injured list on Sept. 7, he has looked like the same steady right-hander again. Across four starts, Pivetta gave up three runs in 18 2/3 innings, producing a 1.45 ERA. His latest outing came in Los Angeles, where he threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings against the Dodgers and helped seal San Diego’s third straight postseason berth.
That four-start stretch also gave the Padres time to build him back to a regular workload. Pivetta reached 87 pitches in his most recent appearance, leaving no stated pitch restriction for October.
Padres manager Craig Stammen said Pivetta’s route back has made his late-season contributions stand out even more.
“There’s a lot of confidence in Nick,” Stammen said. “Considering how the year started and the work he put in without knowing whether he would make it back, he has become one of our better pitchers down the stretch.”
A familiar postseason test against Chicago
San Diego has assembled its bullpen to make games shorter in the postseason, so Pivetta may not be asked to work deep into the night. Still, he enters with a track record of handling October assignments.
With Boston in 2021, Pivetta appeared out of the bullpen in the American League Division Series against Tampa Bay, then worked five innings and allowed one run against the eventual World Series champion Astros in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series. Last year, he held the Cubs to two runs over five innings while striking out nine in the Wild Card opener.
Chicago presents a tougher version of that challenge now. The Cubs’ lineup is led near the top by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, a likely National League MVP, and Alex Bregman, who carried a 1.010 OPS after the All-Star break.
Pivetta said the assignment is about more than one or two names.
“It’s the entire lineup,” he said. “They put the ball in play, they stay disciplined and they have players who fit well together, with Bregman leading that group. The goal is to keep them guessing while staying with my own strengths, then see how the game unfolds.”
For Pivetta, the rehab is behind him and the next meaningful inning is in front of him.
“I’m healthy, I feel good, and I’m excited about what’s next,” he said.
