SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The Padres will open their 2026 season against the Detroit Tigers at Petco Park Thursday with Craig Stammen making his debut as their manager.
Stammen succeeds Mike Shildt, who retired on Oct. 13, 11 days after the 2025 season ended with a loss to the Chicago Cubs in a National League Wild Card Series, then in late November became the Baltimore Orioles' upper-level coordinator of instruction.
Stammen has never previously managed at any level and has never formally served as a coach.
After a shoulder injury forced his retirement as a relief pitcher during the 2023 season, Stammen spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons as special assistant, major league staff & baseball operations, instructing the Padres' minor league affiliates and major league club also serving as a conduit between player development and the front office.
Right-hander Nick Pivetta will pitch for the Padres against left- hander Tarik Skubal, the 2024 and 2025 American League Cy Young Award winner.
Pivetta was 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA, the 10th best in Major League Baseball. The Padres went 19-12 in his starts
Pivetta is 2-2 with a 2.33 ERA in five starts and one relief appearance against the Tigers.
Skubal had the best ERA in the American League for the second consecutive season, 2.21. He was 13-6, with Detroit posting a 21-10 record in his starts.
Skubal will be making his second career start against the Padres. He did not figure in the decision in the Tigers' 4-3 victory on July 27, 2022, at Comerica Park, when he allowed two unearned runs and three hits in six innings.
Detroit was 87-75 in 2025, finishing second in the American League Central and earning the league's third and final Wild Card playoff berth. The Tigers defeated the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians, two games to one in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, then lost to the Seattle Mariners, three games to two, in a best-of-five Division Series.
The Padres were 1-2 against Detroit in 2025, with all three games played at Comerica Park.
The pregame ceremony will include the unfurling of the United States- Shaped Flag. Family members of the late Cy Young Award Winner Randy Jones will throw the ceremonial first pitch.
Tinika Wyatt, a San Diego native who competed in the winter 2025 season of "The Voice" will sing the national anthem, and two U.S. Marine Corps AH1-Z Viper Attack Helicopters and two USMC UH1Y Venom Utility Helicopters will perform a flyover.
U.S. Navy Musician 2nd Class Ashley Pollock will perform "God Bless America" before the 7th-inning stretch.
The first pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. The game will be streamed on Padres.TV.
Prior to the game, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System trolleys will serve all stations every 15 minutes or better, with extra service added to the Green Line closer to first pitch.
For post-game service, Blue Line trolleys will depart 12th & Imperial Transit Center every 7.5 minutes to San Ysidro and every 15 minutes to UTC. Green Line trolleys will depart 12th & Imperial every 15 minutes, with extra trips as needed from Gaslamp Quarter Station until crowds diminish. Orange Line trolleys will depart 12th & Imperial every 15 minutes.
