Kyle Hart started his first game as a Padre on Monday night. What did we learn about the lefty starter?

Kyle Hart made his Padres debut against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. The Padres won 7-2 thanks to a flurry of timely hits. Hart kept them in the game, even with a few mistakes. How did he do overall? Let’s break it down.

Keep in mind that this was Hart’s first start in Major League Baseball since September 1, 2020. Over four and a half years ago. He came to San Diego as a near-complete unknown commodity. Fans did not get a long look at him during official Spring Training games either. His regular-season debut essentially became his introduction to the entire fanbase.

Game Review

The lefty tossed five innings, allowing two runs, with one walk, five hits, and four strikeouts.

Overall, it’s hard to expect any better from a team’s No. 5 starter in the rotation. That averages out to a 3.60 ERA, which any team would take from their bottom starter in the rotation.

His two earned runs were mistake pitches to perennial All-Star Jose Ramirez and former Padre Austin Hedges. However, neither pitch was hit over 100 mph, and Ramirez’s homer would not have been a dinger in 10 MLB ballparks. Essentially, even the homers allowed by Hart were not completely crushed.

He even got out of a jam in the fifth inning by way of a double play on a pickoff move that led to an obstruction call on Cleveland. It was a heads-up play by Manny Machado.

Arias loves Machado #SD #CLE pic.twitter.com/k7AiUu69oV

— Bobby (@welcomeMLB) April 1, 2025

That helped Hart escape the fifth inning and thus be eligible for the win. He earned his first career MLB win thanks to the team effort.

Repertoire

The Ohio native is not going to blow anyone away with velocity. The fastest pitch he threw all night was 93.1 mph, which was a strikeout. He usually sits in the low 90s with his sinker. Along with his sinker, he tossed a sweeper, changeup, four-seam fastball, and a more traditional slider. The southpaw certainly has the pitch mix to be a viable starting pitcher.

He got the majority of his 10 swing and misses on Monday on his changeup. However, his sweeper was his main “put-away” pitch, notching the most outs. Cleveland batters hit .200 off of his sweeper.

An area of concern is his sinker. While it’s his fastest pitch, it was put in play twice, once for a home run. Guardian hitters had a wOBA of 1.216 against that pitch. He will need to locate his sinker better in future starts.

Kyle Hart’s Changeup tonight:

17.1” HB & 5.9 iVB
42.9% Chase Rate
54.5% Whiff Rate
.120 xwOBA

Pitch didn’t grade out extremely well, but it got good results pic.twitter.com/VO1z6vc2xE

— Clark Fahrenthold (@CFahrenthold11) April 1, 2025

It seems the main mix of sweeper and changeup to go with his sinker was enough to keep most of Cleveland’s hitters off balance. He allowed just one barrel all game.

Player comparison

A player Hart may look similar to is Jose Quintana. While Hart stands three inches taller than Quintana, at 6-foot-5, the repertoire and skillset are similar. Quintana’s fastball comes from the left side at around 91 mph. His main put-away pitches are also a changeup and something of a slurve-sweeper type pitch. Despite Quintana’s low velocity compared to his peers, he has carved out a strong career.

Perhaps Hart, fresh off of reinventing himself in Korea’s KBO league, can find moderate success himself.

At least for one start, so far, so good.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.