The San Diego Padres will host the Detroit Tigers for the 2026 Opening Series starting Thursday at 1:10 PM PT.

It will be a rematch of the Padres’ first World Series appearance in 1984, where the Tigers took the series in five games.

New hitting coach, Steven Souza Jr., and his staff will have a tall task for the first three games of the season. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch will pitch a few of the best left-handed starters in the game begin the year for the Tigers, with an experienced righty behind them.

The wait is almost over. pic.twitter.com/6JtN3rGU5b

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 25, 2026

Game 1 of 162 – Opening Day

Last year, on Opening Day, the Padres faced another reigning left-handed Cy Young Award winner in Chris Sale. This year, it will be the back-to-back winner, Tarik Skubal, facing San Diego on Thursday. A year ago, Skubal had a whopping 241 strikeouts in 195 1/3 innings pitched, posting a 2.21 ERA.

On Monday morning, the Padres announced Nick Pivetta will start the opener, making his first career start on Opening Day. Pivetta signed a four-year deal worth $55 million with San Diego before the 2025 season. In 2025, the Canadian-born right-hander posted career bests in innings pitched (181 2/3), strikeouts (190), and ERA (2.87). With Michael King struggling in Cactus League play and Joe Musgrove landing on the injured list to begin 2026, Pivetta became a favorite to start the year for the Padres.

Padres Opening Day catcher, Freddy Fermin, has success against Skubal, a pitcher he used to share a division with in his time with Kansas City from 2022-2025. Fermin has four base hits in 12 at-bats versus Skubal, the best of any Padre on the roster. New Padre, Nick Castellanos, hit a home run off Skubal a year ago when he was with the Phillies. Just some things to keep an eye on for Thursday.

Here come the Phils ? pic.twitter.com/uBYnjWaW9e

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 2, 2025

Tony Gwynn Opening Day

Friday will be “Tony Gwynn Opening Day” for the Padres; a day known in the community for showing when the “real fans” show up with no pregame ceremonies and festivities.

The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM PT.

Detroit will send former Astro Framber Valdez to the mound for his Tiger debut. Valdez signed with Detroit for a three-year, $115 million contract earlier this year in February. The 1-2 punch of the lefties of Skubal and Valdez will be tough for any lineup, but especially for this Padres’ lineup. San Diego struggled with left-handers in comparison to righties in 2025, having a .690 OPS vs. southpaws compared to a .720 OPS vs. right-handers. A.J. Preller acquired Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos to help do more damage against these arms in 2026.

Blast off ? pic.twitter.com/dTJRUmMIu2

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 19, 2024

Craig Stammen will send the newly paid starter, Michael King, to the mound for the second game of the season. King signed a three-year, $75 million deal in December of last year to stay in San Diego. In 2025, King struggled with injuries, only throwing 73 1/3 innings, but his 2024 campaign is everything the Padres hope to get in 2026.

In his first full season as a starter in 2024, King threw 173 2/3 innings, striking out 201 batters and posting a 2.95 ERA. In his start versus the Braves in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series in 2024, he became the first pitcher to strike out 12 batters with zero runs and zero walks in a pitcher’s first career postseason start. A healthy King will be a key piece to the Padres’ success this year.

Game 3 of 3 versus the Motor City

Jack Flaherty, a pitcher that the Padres are fairly familiar with following his backend 2024 with the Dodgers, will start Saturday for the Tigers. In Game 2 of the 2024 NLDS, the San Diego offense tagged Flaherty for four runs in his 5 1/3 innings pitched. Fernando Tatis Jr. homered off Flaherty in this game. Flaherty will look to bounce back from his forgetful 2025 campaign, where he posted a 4.64 ERA in 161 innings pitched. In 2025, he struggled on the road, posting a 5.27 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, with a record of only three wins and seven losses.

Tati time ⏰ pic.twitter.com/nxK6CW6gyR

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 7, 2024

Randy Vasquez will be the Padres’ third starter to begin the season.

Vasquez impressed all spring long with his uptick in his fastball velocity and could build off of his surprisingly good 2025 season. Vasquez played a major part in 2025, giving quality innings as a starter and handing it off to the super bullpen. If the right-hander can get weaker contact versus the lefties and induce more whiffs in general, he could find himself in a much better spot statistically than a year ago.

From 2024-2025, Vasquez improved in both his H/9 and BB%. With the two final men of the rotation probably being Walker Buehler and German Marquez, they both have question marks around their names as to how they will perform, following down years. Vasquez could be in a great position as the #3 to step up and help this Padres team in 2026.

First pitch on Saturday is set for 5:40 PM PT.

Keys to victory

This may sound easier said than done, but San Diego needs to get to the bullpen as soon as possible in this series.

Chasing their big-time lefty starters out of the game and getting to their bullpen, which ranked 17th best in ERA in 2025, would be in the Padres’ best interest. Detroit did not improve much in its bullpen, besides notably signing veteran Kenley Jansen. Tigers’ Troy Melton is also beginning the season on the injured list, after becoming a nice piece to their pitching staff and bullpen in their 2025 American League pennant push.

Limiting the Tigers’ lefty bats should also be a stressed point of the series.

With San Diego only having right-handed starters to begin the year, they should see a fair amount of lefty-loaded lineups. Detroit’s star lefties in the lineup, such as Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, and Colt Keith, all do major damage against right-handed pitching. If the Padres hope to win or sweep this Opening Series, the pitching staff must be able to find consistent ways to make the Tigers’  left-handed bats uncomfortable in the batter’s box.

Angel Flores

Angel grew up a San Diego sports fan, following the Padres, SDSU athletics, San Diego FC, as well as the Chargers. He is currently a third year community college student, and will transfer to SDSU to pursue a career in Journalism.