Padres pregame: Blake Hunt DFA'd, Jhony Brito optioned to make room for Nick Pivetta's return from 60-day IL

To make room for Nick PIvetta to return from the 60-day injured list to start Monday's game against the Washington Nationals (2:10 p.m. on Padres.TV), right-hander Jhony Brito was optioned to Triple-A El Paso and catcher Blake Hunt was designated for assignment. The 69th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Hunt was dealt to the Rays in the Blake Snell trade before the 2021 season, bounced around the league a bit and signed a minor league deal with the Padres before this season. Hunt, 27, made his MLB debut this year, appearing in two games and striking out in all three plate appearances. He is hitting .301/.381/.617 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 42 games this year with Triple-A El Paso. Brito, 28, has appeared in five games in the majors this year, his first big-league games since losing all of 2025 to an elbow reconstruction. Brito had struck out six, walked one and allowed three runs across nine innings. PIvetta is appearing in the majors for the first time since walking off the mound April 12 with flexor discomfort. The 33-year-old right-hander walked off the mound after 14 pitches at the start of his rehab assignment on Aug. 4, but he resumed the rehab at low Single-A Lake Elsinore on Aug. 25 (3 IP, 3 ER) and struck out seven over 4⅓ shutout innings on Aug. 30 while throwing to catcher Ethan Salas, who is behind the plate on Monday for his second start at catcher in the majors. Harry Potter Day 🪄 pic.twitter.com/ASQcbTQOmG — San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 7, 2026 Pivetta threw 44 of his 64 pitches for strikes in that final rehab appearance. He'll likely be backed up by right-hander Randy Vásquez, who was due to start Monday before the decision to activate the team's 2025 ace. Vásquez was in the bullpen on Sunday and figures to be part of the Pivetta equation going forward. Salas, 20, will bat ninth in his third start in the majors. He is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts to start his big-league career. With Salas behind the plate, Yankees series hero Luis Campusano (.864 OPS) will serve as the DH and bat sixth. Dustin Harris will play left field and bat seventh against Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin and Xander Bogaerts (.638 OPS) will drop into the eight-hole, his customary spot against righties as of late. Here is how the Nationals will line up to start this three-game series: Tuesday's pitching matchup Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (2-8, 5.57 ERA) The 29-year-old has allowed 15 homers in 85⅓ innings after leading the majors with 38 allowed in 180 innings last year. He has completed six innings twice in 18 starts this year, none of which were quality starts. Irvin's only matchup with the Padres was a no-decision in 2023 (4 IP, 2 ER). Here is how Irvin has fared against current Padres: Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (1-2, 4.50 ERA) He's coming off the IL to make his first start since walking off the mound with flexor discomfort on April 12. Pivetta had a 3.38 ERA in eight rehab appearances spread across three games. The spot in the rotation belonged to RHP Randy Vásquez (10-6, 4.02 ERA), who will be available out of the bullpen. Here is how Pivetta has fared against current Nationals: