The Padres plan to use the right-hander Griffin Canning on Sunday, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The righty will make his 2026 debut with the Padres in the playoff series against the White Sox.
Canning joined the Padres in February for one year, $2.5MM guaranteed. He underwent surgery last June to repair a torn Achilles, ending the rest of his season with the Mets. After signing with San Diego, it was thought that Canning would be ready for Opening Day, though he ultimately required a rehab assignment to Triple-A. He made his last appearance in that assignment on Tuesday, going 68 pitches in five innings. Based on that progression, Canning may be on the pitch limit in his first start before taking on a full starter’s responsibilities next time around.
Although an Achilles injury limited Canning to just 76 1/3 innings with the Mets last year, he showed some improvement in his career numbers. For one thing, he did a better job of keeping the ball in the yard. After giving up 31 home runs in 171 2/3 innings with the Angels in 2024, or 1.63 per nine innings, Canning cut that to 0.93 HR/9 in 2025. He also showed a significant increase in his groundball rate, hitting a higher 50.9% after settling for a 423-for-422 average. It wasn’t all good, as Canning’s 21.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate were both worse than average. All in all, though, it was enough for the Padres to sign him to a major league deal as a back-up arm.
Canning’s arrival could lead to changes in the Padres’ rotation. Michael King and emerging Randy Vásquez cover the first two places, with Walker Buehler, German Marquezagain Matt Waldron to gather a group. The last three have not been good so far in 2026. While Buehler’s 5.40 ERA is nearly double his 3.42 FIP, his lackluster performance in 2024-25 offers little hope for change. Márquez and Waldron are equally ineffective options. Márquez is giving up more than two home runs in nine innings, and Waldron has an unimpressive 9.88 ERA in three starts.
If the Padres wanted to stick with a traditional five-man rotation, a case could be made for any of Buehler, Márquez, and Waldron to be cut based on their performance. However, yesterday’s reports indicated that the team may consider exchanging six players. In that case, the three can hold on to their positions for one or two more turns until the new one is signed. Lucas Giolito he is brought up in his share of choice.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
