Cubs have a slight historical edge over the Padres' Game 1 starter Nick Pivetta

In the playoffs for the first time since 2020, the Chicago Cubs are set to square off with the San Diego Padres in their first home postseason games since 2018.

The Cubs announced their rotation plans, anointing Matthew Boyd as the Game 1 starter, as Craig Counsell held his cards close to the vest for any Game 2 or Game 3 plans, waiting to see how the series opener goes on Tuesday.

The Padres laid their hand out on the table, though, with manager Mike Shildt announcing his team's starting pitching plans for the entire series. The team will throw out Nick Pivetta opposite Boyd in Game 1, with former Cubs farmhand Dylan Cease and former Cubs ace Yu Darvish set to serve as the starters in Games 2 and 3, respectively.

That's about what most expected, though it does mean the Padres' otherworldly bullpen is only getting better by folding in Michael King and Randy Vásquez as long-relief options.

The bigger story here, though, is that Pivetta, for all his success in 2025, hasn't exactly been great at Wrigley Field in his big-league career.

Padres' Game 1 starter Nick Pivetta has yet to conquer Wrigley Field

Pivetta, who hasn't pitched in the playoffs since 2021 with the Boston Red Sox, is a fine choice to toe the rubber in the Padres' maiden playoff game of 2025.

A free-agent signing toward the end of last offseason, Pivetta has emerged as the ace of San Diego's staff this year, logging a 2.87 ERA and 3.49 FIP in 181 2/3 innings. His 3.7 fWAR leads all Padres pitchers in 2025.

However, this isn't a guy with a great track record against the Cubs. In six career appearances against the North Siders (five starts), Pivetta has a 3.96 ERA in 25 innings pitched.

When you narrow the scope to just his appearances at Wrigley Field -- one start with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018, and one with the Padres in April of this year -- Pivetta has allowed seven runs in eight innings at the Friendly Confines. That includes two home runs and four walks.

Now, our sample size here is small, and Pivetta isn't the pitcher he was six months ago, let alone seven years ago.

But this is a pitcher with very limited exposure to the bright lights of October (or, in this case, the sunshine of a late September afternoon), and he'll be pitching in front of the most hostile crowd of his career. With history not on his side, it's going to take a Herculean effort for Pivetta to turn things around in Game 1 against the Cubs.

Of course, given how absurdly dominant the Padres' bullpen is, the Cubs are going to need to get to Pivetta early and often if they want to win this game (and the series). Let the chess match begin.