Padres pregame: The Elias Díaz-Nick Pivetta pairing, Fernando Tatis Jr. returns to lineup

To date, Elias Díaz has caught all but one of the 503 plate appearances this year against Nick PIvetta.

No reason to mess with a good thing, even with a new catcher adding much-needed offense to the position.

Díaz is behind the plate to start a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. on Padres.TV.

The 34-year-old Díaz is hitting .201/.266/.304 on the season and has just six plate appearances since the team acquired Freddy Fermin from the Royals. Díaz went 1-for-3 with an RBI while catching Pivetta’s last start against the Cardinals, came off the bench on Monday and caught Yu Darvish’s start on Tuesday (0-for-2).

Díaz had six RBIs in a four-game stretch that culminated with that RBI single in Pivetta’s last start, but the Padres clearly acquired Fermin to take on the lion’s share of the team’s catcher plate appearances.

The Padres’ catchers — predominantly Díaz and the since-released Martín Maldonado — are up to 26th in OPS (.609) and 25th in weighted runs created-plus (74).

They’ll continue to climb, too, if Fermin hits like he has.

Out from under the shadow of Salvador Pérez in Kansas City, Fermin is hitting .438/.500/.500 with a double and three RBIs in his first five games as a Padre.

Díaz will hit ninth as the Padres alternate right- and left-handed bats up and down their new-look order, which includes Fernando Tatis Jr. back atop the order after an off-day on Wednesday.

Friday Night Lights pic.twitter.com/V8pyJIIOpD

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 8, 2025

Tatis hadn’t been out of the lineup since June 7 and was hitting .095/.269/.143 since the trade deadline.

Ryan O’Hearn will serve as the DH and bat sixth, pushing Gavin Sheets to the bench for the sixth time in seven games since the trade deadline.

Sheets went 0-for-2 with a walk on Monday. He has not been used off the bench yet.

Here is how Boston will line up for Game 1:

https://x.com/RedSox/status/1953938025706148315

Friday’s pitching matchup

Red Sox RHP Walker Buehler (6-6, 5.74 ERA)

A 5.89 FIP would be his highest since his rookie season in 2017 (5.94) if the season ended today. Buehler has also 19 homers, one shy of his career high in 2019 (3.26 ERA) through just 94 innings, he’s most since 2021. Buehler has a 1.80 ERA in 12 career starts against the Padres, but he allowed four runs in 8⅓ innings in two regular-season starts last year with the Dodgers and six runs in five innings in the Dodgers’ Game 3 loss in the NLDS.

Here’s Buehler’s history against current Padres:

Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (11-3, 2.73 ERA)

He’s making his first start against the Red Sox after pitching for them for parts of five seasons. Pivetta rejected a qualifying offer after the season, clearing the way for the Padres to sign him away from Boston in February. He has allowed one run or less in six of his last seven starts (1.01 ERA) and is 7-0 with a 1.99 ERA in 12 starts at Petco Park.

Only two Red Sox hitters have history with Pivetta:

• 3B Alex Bregman (1-for-5, 3B, 3 Ks)
• SS Trevor Story (3-for-5, 2B, 3B, RBI)