The San Diego Padres needed their de facto ace Dylan Cease to deliver a performance similar to the one provided by rotation mate Nick Pivetta on Tuesday night. Cease failed to even come close to matching the performance and surrendered six runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks and watched them cruise to an 8-2 win at Petco Park, Wednesday.
Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove started the 2025 season on the IL and Cease and Michael King were expected to become 1A and 1B in the Padres rotation. Then King made his way to the IL and Cease was expected to be the top pitcher in the San Diego rotation.