The San Diego Padres have been without right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta since mid-April, and he is far from happy about it.Though the veteran appears to be on track to return after the All-Star break, he appeared to downplay his progress on his return a flexor strain in his elbow. “It’s just making sure my arm can move, and my arm moved fine,” Pivetta said. “It won’t be until I get off a mound and get some length and put something behind the ball that we will know how I feel.”In other news, right-hander Michael King was called out by manager Craig Stammen amid a frustrating stretch of starts. The skipper spoke specifically on King's most recent outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, where he allowed three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. “He wasn’t sharp from the very beginning,” Stammen said. “Tons of 3-2 counts. That’s not him. Drove his pitch count up. He kind of fought through it for four innings, and then the fifth inning, they got to him the third time through the lineup, which has kind of been par for the course for our starting rotation.”Finally, superstar third baseman Manny Machado spoke on his former team in the Baltimore Orioles and was recently reflecting on how much time has gone by in San Diego. "It’s crazy because the other day I was looking back. I’ve already been in San Diego more than I was in Baltimore," he said. "It’s even crazy to think about that. I [thought] I spent 10 years there, even though it was only six. It’s crazy to think about because that’s how much it meant to us."Across his first seven years in the majors as an Oriole, Machado hit .283 with 162 home runs and 471 RBIs. Through eight years in San Diego, Machado has a .269 batting average with 206 home runs and 667 RBIs. Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article): Padres' Nick Pivetta Not Happy With Progress From Elbow Injury Padres Manager Calls Out Michael King Amid Struggles Padres' Manny Machado Reveals What He Misses Most About His Former Team Padres Tabbed as Best Landing Spot for 37-Homer Slugger in Blockbuster Trade Padres' AJ Preller Under Immense Pressure Ahead of Trade Deadline, Says Insider Padres Announce Starting Pitchers for Series vs Slumping RangersPadres Tweets of the DayIt comes down to four players for the Padres@JonSchaeffer wonders if Padres can win it all with Machado leading the way@DevineGospel says the frustration isn't just Machado, it's the Core 4"The number one issue is those four. If those four figure it out, this team has life" pic.twitter.com/GgKr0ZhI2r— Padres Collective (@PadresHMA) June 18, 2026Fernando Tatis JrApril: .253/.318/.284May: .284/.360/.353June: .344/.377/.469Please may this trend continue!@DevineGospel— Stewart Willowwood (@StewWillowwood) June 18, 2026Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller is among the front office execs under the most pressure ahead of this year's deadline👀👀Here's why⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Q71AL8bheI— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) June 18, 2026"They want to see the stars."@MartyCaswell doesn't believe Padres fans would be patient if the team sold off some of their biggest names. pic.twitter.com/jLUvBW9f2M— Friar Territory (@FriarTerritory) June 18, 2026— Padres Burner (@Padres_Burner69) June 18, 2026The Best Of San Diego Padres Art by #michaelrichardrosenblatt pic.twitter.com/aGqkG3AlFI— San Diego Padres Art (@PadresArt) June 19, 2026San Diego Padres Cam Nohos 6/16/26. 3IP 4H 2R, no ER, BB with 4K's. Another solid SD arm in the desert. He's older (22) and has been to Lake Elsinore, hes tossed 24.1 innings with 40K's in AZ. pic.twitter.com/l7Fvr6WaxM— TheJerryEspinoza (@JEspinoza1634) June 19, 2026The Padres are constantly linked to big names on the trade market. Are they actually going to be interested this July or is it just A.J. Preller habit? pic.twitter.com/jDxtlOb3J5— Friar Territory (@FriarTerritory) June 18, 2026Buster Olney has linked Tigers Ace Tarik Skubal to the Padres. His reasoning is SD needs starting pitching and AJ is quote “… a little crazy”— MerrillMadness (@JMerrillMadness) June 18, 2026Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow