Why Padres’ Nick Pivetta left gem vs. Rockies early

San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta had a short day on the mound during a series finale against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday at Petco Park in San Diego.

Pivetta left his mound duty in the bottom of the fourth inning due to an apparent injury.

San Diego later provided the reason for his early exit.

“Update from the Padres clubhouse: Nick Pivetta left today’s game with right elbow stiffness,” San Diego shared via a social media post on its official account on X, formerly Twitter.

It was an unfortunate end to Pivetta’s outing, especially since he was having quite a performance until he was forced to leave the mound by the injury.

In three innings of work, the 33-year-old Pivetta, who is in his second season with the Padres, allowed no runs or hits. He also did not issue a walk, while striking out a total of four Colorado batters through 46 pitches.

Pivetta entered the Rockies game with a 1-2 record and just a 5.54 ERA over his first three starts in the 2026 MLB regular season.

Although those numbers are not pretty, he appeared to be getting back his 2025 form during his Rockies outing. Last season, he went 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA to go along with a 0.985 WHIP across 181.2 total innings and 31 starts, while finishing sixth in the Cy Young Award voting in the National League.

San Diego is hoping that Nick Pivetta’s injury is not serious enough to warrant a stint on the injured list, but if he does need to, the Padres can soften the blow by having Matt Waldron back sooner. Waldron is in a rehab stint in Triple-A, but is close to making his 2026 MLB season debut.

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