Padres making roster move before Lucas Giolito joins team

As Lucas Giolito signed with the San Diego Padres, there were changes that the team needed to make before the pitcher would be activated. With Giolito making his return to baseball with the Padres, the team has officially announced what initial move they are going to make.According to Kevin Acee, San Diego is bringing up Alek Jacob ‘to provide coverage in the bullpen.'“The Padres will call up Alek Jacob to provide coverage in [the] bullpen for a couple days before Lucas Giolito is activated,” Acee wrote on Friday on X, formerly Twitter.Another move that the Padres will probably make, which was even hinted at by manager Craig Stammen, is to have pitcher Matt Waldron move from the starting rotation to the bullpen.“We obviously know (Lucas) Giolito is coming at some point, relatively soon,” Stammen said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “That leaves one guy out of the starting rotation, probably, and so ‘Waldy' is probably going to be that guy in the bullpen. He picked us up today, big time. We needed those two innings. He saved us for tomorrow. We're going to have a chance to win the next three games, because he pitched those two innings, which is pretty awesome and admirable.”At any rate, it remains to be seen when Giolito will be officially activated for the Padres, as he underwent a long free agency and has yet to make his 2026 debut. In 2025 with the Boston Red Sox, he recorded a 3.41 ERA to go along with 121 strikeouts and a 10-4 record in 26 starts.As Lucas Giolito signed with the San Diego Padres, there were changes that the team needed to make before the pitcher would be activated. With Giolito making his return to baseball with the Padres, the team has officially announced what initial move they are going to make. According to Kevin Acee, San Diego is bringing up Alek Jacob ‘to provide coverage in the bullpen.