With an exciting walk-off win over the Milwaukee Brewers last night, the San Diego Padres officially punched their ticket into the postseason, regardless of where they finish in the NL West standings.
Making the playoffs is typically exciting news for a team, as they can get a chance to take the rest of the regular season a less tense pace or continue the grind for higher seeding.
However, for the Padres and their current pitching situation, making the postseason just adds more stress to their plate.
The Projected Padres Rotation for the Playoffs
AJ Cassavell of MLB.com predicts that the 1-2 for the team, at least in the Wild Card round, should be Nick Pivetta and Michael King.
Pivetta has been sensational for the team in 2025 and has made his name known in Southern California in just his lone year with the team, posting a 13-5 record with a 2.87 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 31 starts.
Michael King has struggled to find his footing since returning from the injured list earlier this month, but has slowly gotten back into his rhythm, and he himself has said he's getting closer to his regular form on the mound.
After all, King is arguably the team's best starting option when he is 100 percent.
Rounding out the projection is Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish, and Randy Vasquez, the former two pitchers both former Cy Young Award candidates that have unfortunately seen quite the fall off over the years, and neither are necessarily gems when it comes to postseason pitching either, but all three have at least one more scheduled start in the season to prove to manager Mike Shildt that they are ready to compete for a championship.
Cease is 8-12 with a 4.64 ERA, Darvish is 4-5 with a 5.51 ERA in only 14 starts after missing most of the first half of the year, and Vasquez is 5-7 with a 3.94 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 125.2 innings pitched.