The San Diego Padres signed free agent starter Lucas Giolito to a one-year, $2.8 million guaranteed contract on April 22 and pressed him into the rotation by mid-May as injuries and inconsistency hollowed out their staff.
Giolito’s deal required him to be with the major-league team by May 16; he made his first start for San Diego on May 17 against Seattle after a short ramp through the minors. The right-hander threw 17 innings across two games each for Single-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio after signing, posting a 4.76 ERA in that work before joining the big-league roster.
The signing was both inexpensive insurance and a bet on a veteran rebound. Giolito missed all of 2024 after undergoing UCL repair, returned in 2025 to go 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA as Boston’s No. 3 starter, then bypassed a $19 million option to reach free agency. The Padres added him after several starters landed on the injured list or showed alarming decline.
San Diego’s rotation picture had already been altered before Giolito arrived: Joe Musgrove began spring on the injured list with an elbow that wasn’t ready to pitch; Nick Pivetta landed on the IL after four starts with a flexor tendon strain; Germán Márquez made six starts before being shut down for right forearm nerve discomfort; and Matt Waldron, who was promoted from Triple-A, was placed on the IL after struggling. Walker Buehler opened the season with diminished velocity following two elbow surgeries, while Michael King and Randy Vásquez had managed to make all of their scheduled starts and Griffin Canning rejoined the mix after a rehab assignment.
The friction in San Diego’s plan is straightforward: Giolito was signed to help a struggling rotation, but his velocity is down about 3 mph across his primary offerings and his first start with the Padres suggested he isn’t yet back to where he left off in 2025. In that outing and the ramp work, his fastball averaged roughly 93 mph, his slider about 86 mph and his changeup about 81.7 mph; his curveball remained a 3% pitch. He also shifted from a fastball-and-slider-dominant mix to relying more on a fastball-and-changeup pairing.
Those details matter because the Padres’ margin for error is thin. A $2.8 million, one-year deal buys innings and the chance that Giolito’s arm recovers feel and effectiveness; it does not buy certainty. The club flipped a low-cost veteran into the rotation precisely because its higher-cost options were unavailable or unreliable, and Giolito’s early work will determine whether he is a stopgap or a short-term stabilizer.
Giolito’s next starts will answer the immediate questions: can he regain a few ticks on his fastball and resurrect a slider he formerly leaned on, or will the pitch-mix change and lower velo keep him a more limited, contact-oriented starter? San Diego’s schedule hands him another chance to show progress against lineups the staff expects to handle; the team’s next series also pairs him with matchups previewed on FilmoGaz, including a J.T. Ginn-facing game that lists Giolito in the rotation ( and
The signing was necessary and measured. If Giolito regains velocity and command, the Padres convert a bargain into useful depth; if he doesn’t, the club will still need to search for innings and effectiveness elsewhere. Either outcome will be clear in the weeks ahead when his turn in the rotation repeats and the Padres’ health picture continues to evolve.
