Fresh off a dominant return from injury, right-hander Nick Pivetta brings postseason poise and high-strikeout potential to the mound for San Diego’s critical showdown against Milwaukee.
Prior to Game 2 of the National League Division Series, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy officially revealed that Dustin May will take the mound in Game 3.
The decision to start May over Robert Gasser was a bit surprising, but May is a former World Series Champion, has a ton of postseason experience, and had a stellar start against the San Diego Padres just a few months ago.
San Diego wasted no time responding as they named right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta their Game 3 starter.
Pivetta, 33, has made just eight starts this season. He's 3-2 with a 2.86 ERA and 1.01 WHIP and is fresh off a career year when he first came to the Padres in 2025.
Pivetta missed a ton of time due to injury
The Padres were able to enjoy four starts from Pivetta before he suffered a right elbow flexor strain.
That kept Pivetta out of action from Sunday, April 12, to Monday, Sept. 7.
It's never easy for a starting pitcher to return after that much time away from the mound, but Pivetta has been nearly perfect since he came back.
While the Padres haven't been able to get a ton of depth out of him, they know each team is able to enjoy Monday, Oct. 5 off before Game 3 takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
How's Pivetta been since his return?
Pivetta has thrown exactly 22 innings in his five starts since coming back from the Injured List.
His most recent was a 3.1-inning outing in the Wild Card round, which saw him give up one earned run on three hits.
Pivetta has struck out 22 batters and has only walked four after his four-plus month layoff. For what it's worth, two of those walks came against the Chicago Cubs in the playoffs.
Two of Pivetta's three wins this year came in the month of September in outings where he threw exactly five innings.
Again, San Diego isn't necessarily expecting him to go out there and throw seven innings, but his 3.1-inning start in the Wild Card was his shortest since he got hurt on April 12.
Padres used four bullpen arms after Pivetta
To get a general idea of what the Brewers could expect in Game 3, the Padres got length out of two of their bullpen arms.
Bradgley Rodriguez, who picked up the win, recorded five outs. San Diego then brought in Jason Adam for an inning, and then it was on the shoulders of Adrian Morejon, who recorded six outs.
Finally, Mason Miller slammed the door shut for his first save of the postseason.
