Padres Land Giolito, Boost Rotation

0:00It's April 30th. This is MLB News Today Baseball Coverage, powered by AI. The San Diego Padres kicked off the 2026 season with a shaky starting rotation after all-star Joe Musgrove hit another snag recovering from Tommy John's surgery. He stayed on the injured list so they rolled with Michael King, Nick Povetta, Randy Vasquez, Walker Bueller and German Marquez on opening day. Povetta went down early too, forcing Team President AJ Preller to move fast. They grabbed free Agent Ace Lucas Gialito on a one-year deal, worth $3 million, plugging a big hole in the staff. Gavin Sheetz, a podre now, lit up about the signing since Gialito was his rotation anchor, back with the Chicago White Sox for three seasons until the 2023 trade deadline. Sheetz says this park suits Gialito's stuff perfectly. Gial's building up in single A Lake Elsinore and took a comebacker to the thumb in his first outing, but is just bruised in his on track for a mid-May debut with the big club.

1:02Last year in Boston, he went thinner 4 with a 3.41 ERA and 121 strikeouts over 145 innings. With Gialito thriving in tough spots like the National League West, the Padres rotation just got a serious boost heading into the summer grind.