SAN DIEGO — The Padres and pitching coach Ruben Niebla have finalized a multiyear contract to keep Niebla in San Diego, sources told MLB.com on Friday. The club has not yet announced the deal, which was first reported as being final by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres typically prefer to unveil their entire coaching staff in one announcement. Niebla will be entering his fourth season in charge of Padres pitchers. His first three campaigns were wildly successful: the Padres twice reached the playoffs, and when they didn’t in 2023, they still posted the lowest rotation ERA in the Majors. In Niebla’s three seasons, San Diego pitchers have notched a combined 3.80 staff ERA and 56.9 WAR, per FanGraphs — which checks in third in the Majors,
below only the Phillies and Braves below only the Phillies and Braves Here’s what Niebla’s return means for the Padres:
1. They kept their guy
Niebla is viewed by some as a potential future managerial candidate. He’s well-liked by his players. He’s forward-thinking with data. He communicates that data into digestible language and indications for his pitchers. He is also a multilingual Spanish speaker who can communicate with his players on a deeper level.
So, yes, the Padres wanted him back. Throughout the process, no other outcome appeared likely.
“We’re going to reward the people that perform,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller stated recently. “Ruben has been a tremendous performer. I look forward to him being a long-time member of the Padres organization.”
The Padres require rotation help with Martín Pérez’s free agency departure and Joe Musgrove’s Tommy John surgery, which will prevent him from playing in 2025.
With Niebla returning, the Padres have an appealing offer for free agents, given the lift he’s given so many of their pitchers, dating back to his tenure in the Cleveland organization. 2. The Padres are about to finalize their staff.
Manager Mike Shildt signed a contract extension earlier this week that will go until the 2027 season. During a post-extension media conference, Shildt emphasized the importance of his coaching staff. “I’m looking forward to the staff staying together, being together, growing together, taking the next steps,” Shildt said. “That continuity between the staff and the players on the field, we’ve established a good, good base.” Shildt said that in the preliminary negotiations around his extension, he made it a priority to retain his staff. Preller didn’t confirm that the entire coaching staff would return, but he hinted that an announcement could come soon and that it would contain plenty of continuity. “It was pretty easy to be able to be on the same page in terms of bringing this group back,” Preller said Wednesday. “We’ll have more to say over the course of the next few days, the next week or so. But from Mike
From my perspective, we believe we have a really talented bunch. 3. Are we about to see another reliever-starter transition?
Niebla has excelled at transitioning career-long relievers into valuable starting pitchers. He accomplished this with Seth Lugo in 2023 and Michael King in ’24.
Guess what? The Padres have vacancies in their rotation. They might look into that avenue again.
“I think we’ll also look at some guys from the bullpen, see if, as a group, they have a chance to lengthen out and start,” Preller told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen at the GM Meetings in San Antonio. In both cases, neither Lugo nor King were constrained by an innings limit. Instead, both were carefully monitored throughout the season, and the Padres took extra days to rest them. But as long as the pitchers hit their checkpoints, physically and mechanically — baseline milestones created by Niebla in the preseason — they pitched on. Both had terrific seasons, pitching till the end (and, in King’s case, into October).In both cases, neither Lugo nor King were constrained by an innings limit. Instead, both were carefully monitored throughout the season, and the Padres took extra days to rest them. But, as long as the pitchers reached their milestones, physically and mechanically — baseline checkpoints created by Niebla in
During the preseason, they pitched. Both had terrific seasons, pitching till the end (and, in King’s case, into October). Preller acknowledged the prospect of internal alternatives for a similar transformation. Adrian Morejon, a once-highly ranked prospect who suffered injuries that forced him to the bullpen, is the most obvious candidate. Bryan Hoeing, who pitched exclusively in relief after arriving from Miami on the Trade Deadline, but has also started, could be another option. (However, Hoeing appears to be a less likely candidate given his low career splits as a starter.)
In any case, the Padres might consider external buy-low candidates, knowing that with Niebla on board, those types of pitchers have prospered.
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