The Padres rolled out a Wild Card roster with a couple of eye-openers, and Miguel Andújar was right there in the middle of it.
Joe Musgrove was one surprise. Andújar was the other.
His last major-league game came on July 19, when a curveball fractured his right wrist and shut down the rest of his regular season. San Diego never activated him after that.
Then the Wild Card roster dropped, and there he was anyway - back after two months of silence and straight into the postseason.
That decision says plenty about how the Padres want to attack this Cubs rematch.
San Diego signed Andújar in February with last October still fresh in its mind. The Cubs held the Padres to five runs over three games and finished the job with a 3-1 win in Game 3.
The pitching staff kept handing the offense chances. The offense kept missing them.
Andújar was supposed to be part of the answer. He was the kind of right-handed bat the Padres wanted on hand - someone who could handle DH work, punish mistakes and stay dangerous off the bench.
Before the wrist injury, he put together a .259/.303/.423 slash line in 74 games, with 20 doubles, five home runs and just 38 strikeouts in 254 plate appearances. His game is built on putting the ball in play.
The injury wiped that out. Andújar started a Triple-A rehab assignment in September and kept getting at-bats at the Padres’ Arizona complex, but he never got back into a regular-season game.
Most roster projections, including ours, moved on without him. San Diego didn’t.
The roster construction makes the point even clearer. The Padres are carrying only 11 pitchers and going with a 15-man position-player group, with Andújar included and Sung-Mun Song left out. That setup gives Stammen room to be aggressive and move pieces around as the game unfolds.
Austin Hays and Andújar give Stammen right-handed choices. Gavin Sheets brings the left-handed answer.
Three catchers open up pinch-hit flexibility without leaving the position exposed. Jase Bowen and Samad Taylor add speed and defense once the lineup starts getting rearranged.
That means Stammen can go after a matchup in the fourth or fifth inning and then figure out the defensive side afterward. Andújar is still a risk - wrist injuries are no small thing for hitters, and two months away from major-league pitching is a real hurdle.
He might get only one plate appearance in the whole series. That may be exactly what the Padres need from him.
Two straight playoff exits have ended the same way for San Diego: the lineup went quiet in the deciding game. This time, the Padres are carrying more ways to force the issue - power, contact, speed, defense and enough bench pieces to keep pressure on the Cubs.
The old ending is already on the record. Andújar’s unexpected return gives the Padres a chance to try for a different one.
In Other News...
Craig Counsell's Game 1 Pitching Choice Says Everything About This Series
Craig Counsells first move for the Wild Card Series was a familiar one, with Matthew Boyd getting the ball for Game 1 against the Padres. It is the kind of assignment Boyd has handled before, and it fits the way the Cubs have leaned on him in recent October runs, making him one of the more trusted names in a short series where every pitching decision carries extra weight.
For San Diego, the matchup sets up immediately around right-hander Michael King, while Counsell also made clear that Kevin Gausman will be part of the pitching mix before the series is over. The combination points to a fast-moving, heavily managed matchup in which both clubs are trying to shape the early innings to their advantage, and the rest of the rotation picture still leaves plenty for the Padres to sort through as the series opens. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Gave The Cubs A Wild-Card Twist To Worry About
The Padres set their 26-man roster for the upcoming wild-card series against the Cubs, and the group comes with a few wrinkles that could matter right away in October. San Diego is carrying 15 position players and 11 pitchers, and the mix suggests a club trying to maximize flexibility for a short series while making sure it has enough depth to navigate matchup-heavy innings.
Joe Musgrove is back on the roster after missing the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the right-hander is expected to work out of the bullpen after last pitching in the 2024 wild-card round. The Padres also opted to carry three catchers, while adding Andujar and Sheets and leaving Sung-Mun Song, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vasquez off the list, a set of choices that gives the Cubs a little more to sort through as the series gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Wild Card Roster Sends A Clear Message To The Padres
The Cubs have set their 26-man roster for the Wild Card Series against the Padres, and the list offers a pretty clear look at how Chicago wants to attack the matchup. With 12 pitchers included, the club leaned into pitching depth while also making room for late-season acquisition Gabriel Arias, a sign that the roster was shaped as much by fit as by pure production.
Just as notable are the names left out, with Caleb Thielbar absent and Justin Steele still on rehab. Manager Craig Counsells approach points to a roster built around defense and long-term health, which can tell you plenty about how the Cubs see the series ahead. For the Padres, it is a reminder that the opponent across from them is choosing balance and flexibility, even if it means leaving a few recognizable pieces behind. [Read more 🡒]