The San Diego Padres return home after a six-game road trip. They welcome the last place Colorado Rockies to Petco Park for an NL West bout.

For the first time in 2025, the Padres play an NL West opponent. The Colorado Rockies come to Petco Park sitting in last place in the division at 2-9.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1, Friday: Nick Pivetta (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. German Marquez (0-1, 2.45 ERA)

Game 2, Saturday: Kyle Hart (1-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. TBD

Game 3, Sunday: Michael King (1-0, 3.52 ERA) vs. Kyle Freeland (0-2, 3.79 ERA)

Rockies pitchers

As a team, the Rockies have struggled to prevent runs. They rank 28th in team ERA at 5.16 as of Thursday. Where they are proficient is preventing walks. Colorado ranks fourth in least amount of walks. Meaning they will throw strikes. That seems right up the Padres’ alley.

Kyle Freeland is the undisputed veteran leader of the starting rotation in Colorado. He enters his ninth season with the Rockies, with an above-average career 109 ERA+ (adjusted for park factors).

German Marquez will be a tough task for the Padres. He is 10-3 with a 4.38 ERA in 18 career games against the Padres. He looks very comfortable at Petco Park, with a 3.64 ERA in 10 games.

Heading into Thursday, the Rockies owned the worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 6.81. Victor Vodnik leads the team with six appearances and has a 7.20 ERA.

Rockies hitters

The Rockies have scored the least amount of runs in baseball heading into Thursday. They own a team batting average of .232, which ranks 16th.

Colorado goes as Ezequiel Tovar goes. Last season, he led the NL with 45 doubles, along with 26 homers and a .763 OPS. Unfortunately for Colorado, Tovar is banged up. Manager Bud Black listed him as day-to-day. Ryan McMahon is not too far behind in the pecking order. Last year, he earned his first All-Star selection and finished with 20 homers and 28 doubles.

Kris Bryant certainly brings the most name recognition. The 2016 NL MVP has had a drastic falloff since joining the Rockies. In parts of four injury-riddled seasons, he owns just a .703 OPS and -1.4 WAR with Colorado in 167 games.

Here is a look at what the Rockies lineup might look like.

1. Brenton Doyle – CF
2. Ezequiel Tovar — SS (if healthy)
3. Ryan McMahon – 3B
4. Hunter Goodman – C
5. Kris Bryant – DH
6. Michael Toglia – 1B
7. Nick Martin i- RF
8. Kyle Farmer – 2B
9. Mickey Moniak – LF

If Tovar does not play, it will likely be Tyler Freeman filling in at shortstop.

Keys to the series

For the Rockies:

Whatever weird juju the Rockies hold over the Padres (34-31 against San Diego since 2021), they simply need to continue that. There is little rhyme or reason to why the Padres can consistently play well against the Los Angeles Dodgers, yet struggle often against the lowly Rockies. It usually comes from the Rockies’ pitching holding the Padres’ bats in check in key situations that would turn the tide. Padres’ hitters simply do not come through as often against the Rockies. They also avoid Jackson Merrill in the series, as he is still on the injured list. The Rockies throw off San Diego’s groove year after year for some reason.

For the Padres: 

Padres bats need to be aggressive early against Rockies pitching. Colorado has done a decent job of not walking opposing batters. That means they will throw strikes early and often. The meat of the Padres’ lineup needs to do what they do best. Manny Machado is yet to truly catch fire in the power department. Perhaps this is the series to do it. San Diego’s pitching staff should do the job against a weak lineup. It’s a matter of whether the Padres’ lineup can take advantage of pitches in the middle of the zone and come through with runners on base.

The Padres and Rockies kick off the series Friday evening in San Diego at 6:40 pm PT.

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.