Glew: Padres place Pivetta on 15-day injured list

Victoria Eagles and Junior National Team alum Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) has been placed on the 15-day injured list by the San Diego Padres with right elbow inflammation.

April 15, 2026

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

On Tuesday, the San Diego Padres placed Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation.

Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) underwent an MRI on his elbow on Tuesday but the Padres are still evaluating the results and do not have a timeline for the veteran right-hander’s return.

The 33-year-old Canadian, who was the Padres’ Opening Day starter, left his start against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday with right elbow stiffness after tossing three perfect innings.

It was Pivetta’s fourth start of the campaign. After being rocked for six runs in three innings by the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day, the Canuck righty allowed just two runs in 13 innings in his next three starts.

Pivetta’s injury creates a big hole in the Padres’ rotation. The Padres, who are 11-6 this season, have activated right-hander Matt Waldron to make Pivetta’s next start.

After signing a four-year contract with the Padres in February 2025, Pivetta proceeded to lead all Canadian big league pitchers in wins (13), starts (31), innings pitched (181 2/3), strikeouts (190) and WAR (5.3) last season.

He was also fourth among all major league pitchers in opponents’ batting average (.195), fifth in WHIP (0.985) and hits per innings pitched (6.39), ninth in ERA (2.87) and 10th in quality starts (19).

His regular season performance earned him the start in the first game of the Padres’ Wild-Card series against the Chicago Cubs. In that start, he allowed just two runs on three hits in five innings and struck out nine batters, which tied a single-game Canadian postseason record (set by James Paxton with the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the 2019 ALCS).

For his efforts, he finished sixth in the 2025 National League Cy Young Award voting.

The Victoria Eagles and Junior National Team grad is in his 10th MLB season.