The San Diego Padres will give ace Dylan Cease the baseball in their second game of the 2025 MLB campaign.
Padres: Dylan Cease to follow Michael King to start 2025
According to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, Padres manager Mike Shildt gave Cease the nod for their second game of the year as he rounds out the rotation:
“Shildt confirmed that Dylan Cease will get the ball in Game 2, following Michael King, who was named Opening Day starter last week. Nick Pivetta, meanwhile, will stay back in Peoria to pitch a Minor League game on Tuesday — to which Shildt said, “You guys can do some math from there.”
Padres starting opening series vs. Braves with best arms
Cease will give San Diego their best chance to win against the Braves after King kicks things off on Opening Day. The 29-year-old is coming off of a 2024 campaign where he struck out 224 batters — good for No. 3 in the MLB.
The strikeouts artist will have his hands full against a Braves team with elite sluggers in Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Ozzie Albies, among others. Though, Cease went 2-0 against Atlanta last season.
The reigning two-time All-MLB Second Team honoree is also a perfect 3-0 against the Braves for his career. Cease will look to ride his strong Cactus League play into his first regular season start for the Padres.
Cease has greased his wheels to the tune of a 3.26 ERA and 26 Ks across 19.1 innings of work thus far. He has momentum, a history of success, as well as expectations fueling him ahead of his season debut on March 28.
