The Padres are close enough to the finish line that Craig Stammen is already planning for the biggest possible swing of the week.
After San Diego finished off a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins with a 7-3 win on Sunday, Stammen moved Michael King’s next start from Tuesday to line him up for the final day of the regular season against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Padres have won 13 of their last 14 and remain tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top National League Wild Card spot as the season enters its final week.
The thinking is simple: if the season comes down to Sunday, King would be ready for a win-or-go-home spot. If the Padres don’t need him then, he would most likely be available for Game 1.
“It lines [King] up for the last day of the season if that game really matters, and it’s a win-or-go-home type game,” Stammen said, via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “So it sets up our best pitcher in a win-or-go-home scenario. And then if he doesn’t pitch that game, he would most likely pitch Game 1.”
King has been one of the best things about San Diego’s season since signing a three-year, $75 million deal last offseason. He was expected to land elsewhere, but instead chose to stay with the Padres. Through Monday, he is 12-9 with a 3.03 ERA in 31 starts and is one win shy of matching his career high of 13, set in 2024 after he arrived in San Diego in the Juan Soto blockbuster.
His last outing came Sept. 17 against the Colorado Rockies, when he gave up two runs in six innings on seven hits.
The move also meant the Padres scrapped an earlier plan that had Robbie Ray set to pitch Tuesday against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. With the Diamondbacks four games back in the Wild Card race and San Diego’s magic number down to two after Sunday’s win, Stammen is giving himself some insurance in case this thing stretches all the way to Game 162.
San Diego’s rotation has had its share of uncertainty, though Walker Buehler made a strong case for a postseason start Sunday by working 6.2 innings and allowing three runs on three hits in the win that pushed him to 9-6.
Nick Pivetta has been solid since coming off the IL, while Casey Mize and Robbie Ray, the trade deadline additions, have had mixed results since joining San Diego in August.
For now, the Padres are trying to wrap things up before the week gets any more complicated. Their next shot comes in a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, where they hope to lock down a Wild Card spot before any do-or-die math comes into play.
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