Padres right-hander Griffin Canning is still recovering from last year’s ruptured left Achilles tendon and will start the 2026 season on the injured list. He is already throwing just fine but isn’t yet ready to field his position. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune says that a return in late April is possible but that May or June would be more likely.
Canning suffered his injury in June of last year with the Mets, with no specific timeline provided for his recovery. Similar injuries to other players have often led to absences of around a year. It was reported in January that Canning could be ready “around” Opening Day but that may have been a bit optimistic.
Even with the health question marks, the Padres felt comfortable giving Canning a major league deal with a $2.5MM guarantee, plus some potential incentives. He did look fairly sharp with the Mets last year, before the injury. Compared to his time with the Angels, he threw more cutters and sliders, with fewer four-seamers and knuckle curves.
He made 16 starts and logged 76 1/3 innings, allowing 3.77 earned runs per nine. His 21.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate were a bit worse than average but he generated grounders on 50.9% of balls in play. That figure was well above average and also far better than anything he had done previously, as he was actually more of a fly ball guy with the Halos.
The Padres will hope that he can carry some of that over into 2026, though they will have to wait for Canning to get healthy first. Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta are the clear top three in the rotation. That leaves at least two open spots to start the year. The Padres also have some openness to a six-man rotation, which would mean jobs for three other starters.
Matt Waldron is also going to start the season on the IL after recently requiring a procedure to address a hemorrhoid. Yu Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season due to elbow surgery. Randy Vásquez and Germán Márquez are on the roster and are likely the favorites for the final two rotation spots. JP Sears is also on the roster but has options, so he will likely end up sent to Triple-A. Walker Buehler, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are in camp as non-roster invitees.
The Opening Day rotation will likely be temporary, with Canning set to take a spot when he returns. The decision of how to make room for Canning will depend on the health and performance of the other arms in the interim. Waldron will seemingly be back in the mix before Canning but he is out of options and posted a 7.71 ERA last year, so his return could lead to a tough decision for the Padres.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
We need designated fielders. It’s absurd that our valuable arms can’t pitch because of limiting factors like this or they got injured playing defense.
#UniversalDF
And how would that work for a pitcher???
@Eric Except he wasnt even fielding he was simply walking off the mound while his teammates were finishing a defensive play
The article says he is throwing fine but just can’t field his position. In other words if we had designated fielders, he could play, but since we don’t, he can’t.
#UniversalDF
If someone recovering from a tornado achilies is not stable enough to field they would not let them pitch even if they had something as ridiculous as what u propose.
It simply #isntveryfunny
I know a certain team which could use a designated runner for their DH.
Giancarlo “Herman” Stanton
Acee once again spouting BS. Canning is on pace for a late April, early May return. He was doing PFP on the backfields today.
Just some related info. Musgrove sat 94-95 on his 4 seam today. In 2024 he was 92.9 and in 2023 he was at 93.0. That is extremely encouraging.
Marquez was sat 95-96 in his start. Another very encouraging sign. His velocity has not been that high since 2020.
Vasquez looked extremely good and efficient. Just 42 pitches for 4 IP and 15 of 32 strikes were on swings. 9 of those were whiffs.
None of the position players in the game for the Padres are expected to make the OD roster.
More related information.
In his start today, Buehler sat 92.6 MPH on his FB. That is 1.3 MPH lower than he was last season over the full season, 2 mph lower than he was in September, and 3 mph lower than at his peak with the Dodgers. Even though he got outs in a spring training game, that is not sustainable in the regular season unless he has pinpoint control and that was never his strong suit.
McKenzie sat 96.9 today. That is 4+ mph faster than he ever threw before in the regular season. He still can’t repeat his mechanics pitch to pitch or get the ball over the plate enough. Out of 48 pitches, 26 were strikes and even that was because a few outside the zone were swung at. Seeing that drastic leap in velocity, I am hoping he decides to stick around the organization to find out if he can harness it.
The wind today was blowing 17-20 with gusts even higher than that and if the ball got up into the jet stream, it just took off. So, take the incredible score with a grain or ten of salt.
I’ll be in Peoria next week!
Web, I have to agree with you about this one. I was visiting with my sister in Peoria today, who despite my best efforts I have failed to convert from the dark side to the Angels. We spent the day at the Padres facility which is about a mile from the retirement community she and my brother in law live in. I got a chance to see Canning doing fielding practice this morning. He looked like he was moving pretty good. That doesn’t mean that he is in game shape in terms of coming off the mound to field a ball but he was definitely practicing his fielding.
Glad to hear that you have come over from the dark side. haha. Peoria is a great place to experience spring training. hope you had a good time.
Vásquez is clearly in the rotation, so exclude him from the competition for #5
He’s looking much improved, I’m really excited. If he can be a consistent 4-ERA guy (or better) with the peripherals to match, that’s gonna be huge for the rotation goin forward.
And at a really low salary point too.
Vasquez is looking pretty darn good. Hopefully this is the year he emerges as a top frontline starter
Pouring out some of my 40 ouncer in tribute to Waldron and his hemorrhoids. May you recover swiftly and with equanimity sir.
Cheers!
Canning occasionally interrupts his injury stints with the odd decent pitching performance.
Somebody needs to tell Waldron you’re only a knuckleballer, you just can’t push it that hard. Also as a knuckleballer, you don’t want to force it either. You just let it flow.
Poor guy has never been able to stay healthy.
Randy Vasquez has the inside track to winning the #4 starter role, he has just kept improving since day one as a Padre. I am really proud of how Randy just keeps working to get better.
I would also say that Buehler has a better chance at the 5th spot than Marquez. Musgrove needs a rehab stint at AA to knock the rust off but that probably won’t happen.
Marquez is throwing harder than he has in the past 5 seasons. His velocity is what set up his other pitches when he was pitching effectively. If he continues to sit 95-96, he has the #5 spot.
On the other hand, Buehler so far is showing an extreme loss of velocity. He sat 92.6 MPH on his FB today. That is 1.3 MPH lower than he was last season over the full season, 2 mph lower than he was in September, and 3 mph lower than at his peak with the Dodgers. If he cannot get back up into the 95-96 mph range like he was with the Dodgers, he has not shot at making the squad.