The San Diego Padres have a clear problem this offseason, as they are currently without four of their starting pitchers from last season.
Dylan Cease and Michael King are both currently free agents, and Nestor Cortes will miss all of the 2026 season with injury as a free agent. Yu Darvish will also miss 2026, as he underwent surgery to repair his UCL at the end of November.
Amid their crisis, the possibility of converting relief pitcher Mason Miller to a starter — the role in which he began his career with the Athletics — has arisen.
Newly appointed managed Craig Stammen spoke about the possibility of making Miller, along with All-Star Adrian Morejon, starters for the upcoming season.
“[Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon] will be a big part of our team this year,” Stammen said. “I don’t know if they’re going to be starting, relieving, closing, but they’re going to be a big part of our success and they’re going to pitch as many innings as we can get them to pitch.”
Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller also discussed the idea at the GM meetings.
“A lot of times, it’s talking to the individual pitcher and seeing where his head is at, how much he really wants to do that, make that transition,” Preller said. “If there’s a role change for anybody, it’s something that’s going to be important for us over the next 10 to 15 days to make sure we have that dialed in, so they know what direction they need to go to.”
Miller made his MLB debut in 2023 with the A’s, serving as a starting pitcher. He made just four starts before landing on the injured list, but especially impressed against the Seattle Mariners on May 2, 2023, when he threw seven no-hit innings.
After transitioning to relief, Miller still showed his ability to pitch in long relief, throwing two innings on seven occasions in 2024.
With the Padres desperate for arms, a return to starting for Miller could be their answer. Even with Miller in the rotation, though, the Padres still have plenty of spots to fill in their pitching staff throughout the remainder of the offseason.
