Padres add depth with lefty starter Marco Gonzales
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
According to reports, the Padres signed left-handed starting pitcher Marco Gonzales to a minor league deal.
With the re-signing of Michael King and the return of Joe Musgrove to the rotation, that is no longer the team’s most glaring need for 2026. The biggest need San Diego has at this point is depth, just about everywhere. That includes the back end of the rotation and guys waiting in the wings when the inevitable injury bug bites.
It appears they hope southpaw Marco Gonzales can provide some veteran depth at the bottom of the rotation. That is, if he makes the club out of Spring Training.
Veteran lefty Marco Gonzales to Padres. Minors deal with MLB camp invite. $1.5M if makes team with $1M incentives.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 29, 2026
He will join Triston McKenzie on the list of non-roster invitees to camp, hoping to play a role in San Diego’s pitching staff in 2026.
That being said, Gonzales has not pitched in MLB since 2024. The Gonzaga alum is set to return after missing the 2025 season following forearm surgery.
In fact, he has only tossed 83 innings in the big leagues since the start of 2023. So, why did the Padres take a flyer on him?
Between 2018 and 2022, he averaged 153 innings pitched per season with a 3.94 ERA. Although the ERA wasn’t anything to write home about, there’s some value in a pitcher who ran reliably to toss 150-plus innings at a rate under a 4.00 ERA. There’s always a place for pitchers like that in the back end of the starting rotation.
That said, Gonzales has not found that form in a few seasons, battling injuries and ineffectiveness. He owns a 4.95 ERA and 82 ERA+ in 17 starts since then, between Seattle and Pittsburgh.
Repertoire-wise, Gonzales fits squarely into the “crafty lefty” category. He will never blow you away with velocity, with his fastball rarely exceeding 90 mph. Where he has found most of his success at the MLB level is attacking the zone and inducing weak contact. In 2022, his average exit velocity allowed ranked in the 85th percentile.
While it remains to be seen just how much of a chance Gonzales has to make the team, he certainly will be given a chance in the spring to battle for a spot in the rotation, or at least as one of the few long men who can slide into a starting role when needed.
Given that he is a lefty, he has a chance to win a spot over fellow lefties JP Sears and Kyle Hart.
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.