Padres’ Craig Stammen gives Nick Pivetta injury update after concerning setback

Nick Pivetta has made just four starts for the San Diego Padres in 2026, as he suffered a right elbow flexor strain and inflammation, which then sent him to the 60-day injured list. Pivetta was one of the Padres’ best pitchers in 2025, so his absence has been huge for the team, requiring them to pull off some huge trades at the deadline to acquire some pitching reinforcements.

Pivetta has been working towards a return for quite some time now, and in fact, he made a rehab start for the Padres’ Single-A affiliate on Tuesday. However, Pivetta suffered a setback, as he had to exit the game early with an apparent injury that has now put a pause on his rehab process.

Padres manager Craig Stammen sounded concerned with the latest development in Pivetta’s rehabiliation, especially when he’s had such a lengthy layoff.

“Anytime someone comes off the mound in the middle of an inning when they’re rehabbing an elbow injury, we’ve got to pause,” Stammen said, via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.

Pivetta, in four starts for the Padres this year, has an ERA of 4.50, although that number is backed up by some elite peripherals that suggest that his stellar 2025 campaign was no fluke. In 2025, the 33-year-old started 31 games, pitched in 183.2 innings, and recorded an ERA of 2.87, which was good for an fWAR of 3.7.

As Cassavell wrote, the Padres insured themselves in the event of a Pivetta injury. In the four-year, $55 million contract he signed, the player options Pivetta had for 2027 and 2028 will turn into club options if he spent 130 days on the injured list with a specified injury.

But that is the only silver lining of Pivetta’s absence. The Padres rotation has badly needed him this year, especially when they’re right in the middle of the hunt for a postseason spot in the National League Wild Card race.

The post Padres’ Craig Stammen gives Nick Pivetta injury update after concerning setback appeared first on ClutchPoints.