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.