PHOENIX -- Nick Pivetta’s rehab progression has been paused “for a couple extra days” while the Padres assess the root cause of the issue that prompted Pivetta to walk off the mound during a rehab outing on Tuesday with Single-A Lake Elsinore.
Pivetta has been out since April while he rehabs a flexor strain in his right elbow. On Tuesday, he made his first rehab start, but exited after just 14 pitches with what manager Craig Stammen said was “tightness” in that elbow.
The Padres expressed reason for optimism afterward. Pivetta was able to throw an extra 20-30 pitches off a bullpen mound after his exit, and there’s hope that what Pivetta felt was a natural part of his rehab.
Still, Pivetta missed his regularly scheduled bullpen session Thursday and won’t make his next scheduled rehab start on time.
“Any time someone comes off the mound in the middle of an inning when they’re rehabbing an elbow injury, you’ve got to pause for just a little bit,” Stammen said. “It would be, in my opinion, a little reckless to go, ‘Hey, throw your bullpen two days later, make your start on four days’ rest, you’ll be fine.’
“I think if we’re really taking really good care of him, we’re being a little bit more diligent this week. And then maybe he recovers well, and it wasn’t an issue.”
Complicating things, however, is an Aug. 22 deadline of sorts for Pivetta. He signed a four-year deal with the Padres in Feb. 2025, which contained an opt-out after this season and next season. But if Pivetta were to spend 130 days on the IL with a specified injury -- and this one qualifies -- the player options would essentially convert to a club option. Pivetta is owed $33.5 million over the next two seasons.
Last season, Pivetta posted a 2.87 ERA and finished sixth in National League Cy Young voting. His return would obviously give the San Diego rotation a major boost.
But the Padres also reinforced their rotation at this week’s Trade Deadline, adding Casey Mize and Robbie Ray. That makes Pivetta’s return a little less urgent. As such, the Padres won’t be hit so hard by a potentially stalled comeback.
Meanwhile, Joe Musgrove has been on virtually the same timeline as Pivetta and also made his first rehab appearance Tuesday. He threw 39 pitches at Lake Elsinore, continuing his progression toward a return from October 2024 Tommy John surgery. He is expected to make another rehab start in the coming days, potentially Sunday.
With Pivetta, there’s no specific timeline on when he’ll resume his progression, but it might not be that long.
“We’ll probably give him a couple extra days to figure out what is going on and [whether] we need to pull him back a little bit or if we can just keep going,” Stammen said.