Skip to content<\/a><\/p>\nMATT WALDRON<\/p>\n
Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
\nBats \/ Throws: Right \/ Right
\n2026 opening day age: 29
\nHeight \/ Weight: 6-foot-2 \/ 185 pounds
\nHow acquired: Via trade with the Cleveland Guardians in November 2020
\nContract status: Will not be arbitration-eligible until 2028; will not reach free agency until 2031
\nfWAR in 2025: Minus-0.1
\nKey 2025 stats: 0-1, 7.71 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 6 walks, 2.57 WHIP, .316 opponent average, 4\u2154 innings (1 start)<\/p>\n
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STAT TO NOTE<\/p>\n
6.48 \u2014 Waldron\u2019s ERA over 90\u2153 innings in the minors in 2025, nearly a full run higher than his career minor league ERA (5.67).<\/p>\n
TRENDING<\/p>\n
Down \u2014 The player to be named later in the Mike Clevinger trade in 2020, Waldron had a rather stock pitch mix when he moved from the Guardians to the Padres. He started throwing the knuckleball in games in 2021 after messing with it in his first camp with the Padres, but he also began to develop a love-hate relationship to with the unpredictable pitch, so much so that he really wasn\u2019t throwing it at Triple-A El Paso when the Padres first called him up in 2023. Among the reasons, it was punished in the Pacific Coast League \u2014 think of all the hot environment in altitude \u2014 when it wasn\u2019t dancing right and the all the experimenting with the robo umps made it difficult for Waldron to stay out of hitters\u2019 counts. But in the majors, the knuckleball yielded a .210 expected batting average while throwing it 26.7% of the time in 2023. That led to Waldron leaning into the pitch more in 2024 (38.2%, .226 XBA) and had a lot to do with a 13-start run in which he posted a 2.63 ERA. Waldron hit a wall late in the summer and was not used in the playoffs, and then an oblique injury sustained in spring training prevented him from building on his success. He opened the season on the injured list, didn\u2019t get on a minor league mound until mid-May and made just one poor spot start in Philadelphia in late June before he returned to Triple-A El Paso for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
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2026 OUTLOOK<\/p>\n
A poor 2025 season placed Waldron firmly behind Randy V\u00e1squez and JP Sears in the Padres\u2019 rotation depth chart. Waldron is out of options in 2026, too, so he\u2019ll need a strong spring to force his way into the Padres\u2019 plans without being exposed to waivers.<\/p>\n
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ROSTER RANKINGS<\/p>\n
25. RHP Matt Waldron
\n26. OF Bryce Johnson
\n27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
\n28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
\n29. LHP Kyle Hart
\n30. RHP Jhony Brito
\n31. INF Will Wagner
\n32. OF Tirso Ornelas
\n33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
\n34. RHP Miguel Mendez
\n35. RHP Daison Acosta
\n36. RHP Ty Adcock
\n37. RHP Alek Jacob
\n38. INF Mason McCoy<\/p>\n
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