Matt

Waldron

This had been rumored for a few days and is now official. Giolito claims that he is built up to 75 pitches, but he also ended last season on the injured list with flexor irritation, so we’ll need to see him throw on the mound before we get a true sense of how he looks. The Padres optioned him to High-A Lake Elsinore, but Giolito needs to be on the MLB roster in 25 days, which would be May 17th. He would figure to take Matt Waldron’s spot in the rotation by that time.

Waldron’s velocity was up this spring before his IL stint, and he held on to those gains tonight, with his fastball up about two mph and his knuckleball up three mph from where he was in 2024 before missing almost all of last season. That still doesn’t make him a great bet for fantasy purposes, but he has more of a chance against major league hitters than he used to. Of course, it still didn’t work out tonight, and we certainly wouldn’t trust him in Coors against the Rockies next week.

The 29-year-old knuckleballer will rejoin the Padres to start on Friday night against the Angels. Waldron made three starts at Triple-A El Paso on his minor league rehab assignment, hurling 12 scoreless innings with a 0.67 WHIP and a 12/1 K/BB ratio. He’s worth a look as a streaming option in deeper mixed leagues for Friday’s matchup against the Halos.

No word yet on how much time Pivetta will miss. The 33-year-old veteran has presumably undergone an MRI to determine the severity of the issue and there should be a clearer timetable at some point this week. He was lifted from Sunday’s start against the Rockies after firing three shutout frames. It’ll be Matt Waldron coming up to take his spot in San Diego’s rotation.

Waldron would be taking the place of Nick Pivetta (elbow) later this week against the Angels. The 29-year-old righty is currently on the injured list due to a well-publicized glute infection from back in spring training. It’s a strong matchup but he’s not worth the risk as a streaming option in fantasy leagues.

Waldron’s injury was one of the most circulated on social media as he underwent glute surgery to address an infection earlier this spring. He’ll most likely wind up at Triple-A El Paso once his rehab assignment concludes.

It was Waldron’s second outing back from a posterior infection. Just like in his first outing before being sidelined, his velocity was up 2-3 mph from last year. He’s not going to begin the year on the Padres’ roster, but if he keeps it up, he should be considered for a rotation spot before long.

Waldron is considered week-to-week, but this procedure will make it far less likely that he can make the starting rotation out of spring training. However, Waldron has zero minor league options, which means he either needs to make the team out of camp or land on the injured list, or else the Padres have to designate him for assignment.

94 isn’t remarkable for most major league pitchers, but Waldron has averaged 90 mph the last two years. Today, he was at 93 mph. The part-time knuckleballer entered camp as something of an afterthought after mostly struggling in Triple-A last year, but there’s still plenty to be decided in the San Diego rotation.

That’s now back-to-back strong outings for Waldron since being sent back down to Triple-A at the beginning of the month. He walked three and struck out three on the day, so it wasn’t dominant, but we saw last season how impactful the 28-year-old can be when his knuckleball is dancing, so it might make sense for the Padres to give him another shot.