The following winter, the Mariners sent him to San Diego for Scott Sanders. Hitchcock is best remembered for his performance in the playoffs with the Padres, in which he was named the NLCS MVP. He was the winning pitcher in both of his starts with a 0.90 ERA in the NLCS. Overall in the 1998 playoffs he was 3-0, allowing 3 runs in 22 innings (1.23 ERA) with 32 strikeouts.