NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 5, 2026

Nick Pivetta

Petco Park

San Diego Padres

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. You guys have faced some challenges before. What's the mindset knowing your backs are against the wall in this DS?

NICK PIVETTA: Excited to be home in front of the crowd. Looking forward to the challenge ahead. I think you view this as a great opportunity, something that we've had to handle in the past, and go forward, just like anything, pitch to pitch and play baseball.

Q. What do you think has led you to kind of come back and be as effective as you are like right away after returning from the IL?

NICK PIVETTA: I don't think it's one thing. I think it's diligent work in my rehab process. Make sure I was focusing on the right things, getting ready to pitch in moments like this. Just grateful I was able to walk away really healthy, really strong and able to work my mechanics. My curveball has gotten a lot better and just harnessing what the strike zone is.

Q. Having watched the Brewers the last two days, the offense, is there anything you can take away going into your start, and what kind of challenges do they present as an offense?

NICK PIVETTA: I'm not going to talk about game plans at all. Just going to go out and pitch tomorrow right now.

Q. If you go back a couple of months, you weren't even -- you didn't even know whether you were going to get through your rehab and get back to pitch this year. How does it now that you're able to spin ahead, this is your fifth or sixth start, and now you're in a situation where not only do you have a playoff start, but you have a playoff start that's essential to the team's immediate future?

NICK PIVETTA: I think if you look back at it, when I was really grinding on my rehab process and wondering if I was going to be able to pitch again this year, I look forward to these moments. I'm very grateful to be able to be the pitcher out there, to do this to start it off. Very confident in the team that I have behind me, and it brings me a lot of joy because I love to do what I do.

But to be able to pitch in these moments is very special to me. I look forward to it.

Q. Did you use it as a motivation as you were rehabbing through the ups and downs? Just visualize being back out on the mound in any situation, whether it's important, not important, but here you are?

NICK PIVETTA: Yeah, I think very much so, I align with that. I very much did visualize these moments. I very much did visualize being able to be healthy and pitch for us and help us win, and I think that's what's great about this game. You get those opportunities, and it's an exciting thing. I'm very grateful for it. I'm very happy to be here, and I look forward to it.

Q. You're one of the emotional leaders of the team. How would you classify the team's emotional state coming back after those two tough close losses?

NICK PIVETTA: Yeah, I have confidence in our guys. We're just going to go out and know it's just another game. We have to keep a very simplistic mindset of just one game at a time, one pitch.

But we have a bunch of professionals in this room, a lot of really great players who have played in amazing games who have World Series rings that you can rely in these moments. Just coming together as a group is what I look forward to, and seeing us succeed as a group is going to be very special.

Q. Along those lines, I think one of the trademarks of this team has been its resilience. What's fueled that? What's led to that type of characteristic for this group?

NICK PIVETTA: I think it's just pulling for each other in every single moment. We're a really tight-knit ball club, a lot of great guys. We get along, and we pull for each other every single day through the love for each other, love for the game.

We're always confident in each other that each one of us is going to step through and help us in those moments, and we're going to continue to play good baseball.

Q. In games like this you hear some athletes say just treat it like any other game. Michael said last week after a start here that he likes the extra noise and he kind of uses that as fuel. What's your approach to a game like this?

NICK PIVETTA: I'm never going to shy away from the moment or shy away from what's at stake. Like I said, I'm just grateful to be in these moments and be able to pitch in these moments and try to help us accomplish our goal.

Yeah, you have to look at it like it's amazing you get to pitch in these games and pitch in these moments no matter what game it is in the playoffs, in the year. It's just really cool to be a part of.