San Diego Padres pitcher Matt Waldron was unexpectedly benched by the team in February 2026 in order to have hemorrhoid surgery.
Waldron had previously carved out a niche as one of Major League Baseball’s few remaining knuckleball pitchers, having once described the unique pitching style as his ultimate “weapon.” (A knuckleball pitch is one thrown with as little rotation as possible to make the ball harder for batters to track.)
The athlete got his start on the baseball diamond while growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, before becoming a standout during his four seasons with the University of Nebraska’s Cornhuskers team. He turned pro in 2019 and was initially drafted by the Cleveland Indians, before going the Padres as part of a massive nine-player trade one year later.
Most recently, Waldron was in contention for a spot in the Padres’ starting pitching rotation for the 2026 MLB season until he was hospitalized. This was the second year in a row that Waldron suffered a health setback during spring training.
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Keep scrolling for more about Waldron’s background and his injury.
The San Diego Padres Signed Pitcher Matt Waldron in 2020
The Omaha, Nebraska, native was a star athlete at Westside High School, though he went undrafted when he initially decided to go pro in 2015. Matt Waldron subsequently enrolled in the University of Nebraska, where he made 14 starts in his senior year with the Cornhuskers baseball team.
Waldron had more success in his second attempt to turn pro, as he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians — now known as the Cleveland Guardians — in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB draft. He was sent to hone his talents with both the rookie-level Arizona League Indians and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, though his playing time was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matt Waldron in August 2024. Megan Briggs/Getty Images
In August 2020, Waldron was part of a nine-player trade that also saw pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Greg Allen traded to the San Diego Padres. He was once again sent to the minor leagues for training, playing this time around for the Fort Wayne TinCaps in Indiana and San Antonio Missions in Texas.
Waldron was called up for his debut with the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on June 24, 2023. In his 4.5 innings on the mound, Waldron became the first pitcher to throw a knuckleball in a regular season game since Mickey Jannis did so for the Baltimore Orioles in 2021.
His most recent start for the Padres was on June 30, 2025, where he had four runs in 4.2 innings during the team’s 4-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Not much is known about Waldron’s personal life as he keeps a low profile and is not active on social media.
Matt Waldron Is One of the Few Remaining Knuckleball Pitchers in Major League Baseball
Matt Waldron is something of an anomaly in Major League Baseball for throwing a knuckleball pitch to throw off batters. While the pitching style — which involves limiting rotation in the ball — was once incredibly popular, it has fallen out of fashion in the modern era of professional baseball.
The athlete told sports broadcaster Sam Levitt in February 2024 that he viewed the knuckleball pitch as a “weapon” to use in the right circumstance.
“I’ll make it as good as it can be,” he said. “It’s another weapon. I would say it’s a good changeup … if you execute it properly. At the end of the day, I think it’s an uncompetitive pitch that I’m trying to compete with.”
The pitcher went on, “I make [the knuckleball] sharp during catchplay, and then I bring it to the mound and see what the hitter does. I’m mixing and competing.”
Waldron admitted that there are risks in throwing a knuckleball since its “lack of spin” can make it seem “uncompetitive.”
“You have to commit to that small [pitching] zone with a pitch with no spin,” he added. “It’s very much uncompetitive in my opinion but you can make adjustments with the way I deliver it. … It’s definitely unpredictable.”
Waldron concluded, “It’s just finding a way around that. I know there’s going to be some bad [pitches], in terms of missing the zone. It’s all about sharpening it.”
The pitcher was still honing his knuckleball days before he was sidelined for hemorrhoid surgery in February 2026. He chatted with reporters about deploying the pitch after the Padres’ 10-3 spring game victory against the Kansas City Royals on February 21, 2026.
“It feels good to be back out there,” he told radio station 97.3 The Fan after the spring game. “I’m just out there competing. I can compete with [the knuckleball] no matter how I do it. Whether it’s getting ahead with it, putting them away with it, both, I just want to mix it up as much as possible and continue to make it hard on [batters].”
Matt Waldron Was Sidelined During Spring Training in 2025
Matt Waldron ended up on the shelf while competing for a spot in the San Diego Padres’ starting lineup during spring training in 2025. Per MLB, the pitcher suffered a left oblique strain while warming up in the bullpen on March 14, 2025.
Waldron called the injury “frustrating.” He first felt soreness early in the day and it only got worse as he warmed up.
“When I started to warm up, and I felt it act up even more, I’m like: ‘If this is getting worse, as bad as I want to pitch and compete for this spot, I just can’t,” he said in a press conference.
The Padres’-then manager Mike Shildt expressed hope for a “quicker recovery” though he acknowledged that Waldron’s absence would impact the team’s plans for its starting rotation.
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“It’s going to be some period of time that’s going to impact the start of the season,” Shildt explained to the media.
Waldron ultimately made his one major league appearance of the 2025 season on June 30.
Matt Waldron Had Surgery to Drain His Hemorrhoids in 2026
Matt Waldron was sidelined for the second year in a row during spring training in February 2026. He was once again in competition for a spot in the San Diego Padres’ starting pitching rotation, but was abruptly hospitalized.
The team originally said that Waldron had “an infection in his rear end,” before Padres manager Craig Stammen clarified on Wednesday, February 25, that the pitcher actually underwent hemorrhoid surgery.
“[Matt] had to have surgery to drain it and make it better,” Stammen said in a media briefing. “So he’s been in the hospital the last couple days.”
The Padres manager specified that Waldron’s recovery would be “week-to-week” and that his return to the pitching mound would be determined by “how that incision heals and how he’s feeling moving around.”
“Set him up here for the end of spring training, get him going, and then we’ll see where that takes us as the season goes and where his rehab process goes,” Stammen added.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on February 26, 2026, that Waldron had been released from the hospital and was back in training camp.
“As far as moving around, running, fielding, all that kind of stuff, probably not yet,” Stammen told the publication. “That’ll come when he starts feeling a little bit better and ready to move around a little bit more.”