When the San Diego Padres move into their first postseason game in 14 years Wednesday, not only will they face their playoff nemesis the St. Louis Cardinals, they'll do it with a pitching staff very much in flux.

Right-hander Chris Paddack, who has been anything but consistent, was belatedly announced Tuesday as the Padres starter for Game 1 in the first round of the National League wild-card series. With several factors making the decision unusually difficult, the Padres hadn't announced anything until late Tuesday afternoon.

It fell to Cardinals manager Mike Shildt to off-handedly mentioned on his Zoom news conference that the Padres had told them that Paddack would start. The Padres later confirmed the news.