PHOENIX — It hardly should matter which starting pitcher is handed the ball for the Padres against the Diamondbacks on Sunday for the 162nd and final game of the season.

Any ol’ arm would do.

The team locked down the top Wild Card spot in the series opener at Chase Field and will host a series beginning Tuesday at Petco Park.

This is a delicious baseball luxury, playing well enough, often enough, to use the final few days to rest front-line arms and configure the rotation for the playoffs.

The thing is, it matters a whole lot in the Padres clubhouse.

They have never forgotten about Matt Waldron, his dancing knuckleball and the innings he gobbled up as the team was steadying its legs and discovering its way.

Waldron was more than simply a contributor. He held the line until the cavalry arrived. He was a crucial puzzle piece required to complete a bigger picture. He’s the guy teammates wished was here as all that foundational labor bore intoxicating fruit.

The Padres still could option a player, say Game 161 starter Randy Vasquez, and put the ball in Waldron’s hands.

They still could. And should.

Rarely, a decision for a game with so few real or lasting implications would unleash a jolt through a clubhouse. This one would, though.

“Wally, I mean, he was like one of the most consistent pitchers we had for a long stretch,” Dylan Cease said of Waldron, who logged the third most innings this season with 142 2/3. “He did a lot of heavy carrying. Definitely very important to the team.”

Fellow starter Joe Musgrove said teammates talked about this exact set of circumstances a week or so ago, playing well enough to wrap things up early and create a doorway for Waldron to come back.

Give the man his flowers, as they say these days.

Instead of wearing “me” blinders as postseason and division fates shook out, the team that became closer than most thought possible after spiraling a season ago chose “us” thoughts.

“He was really good there for a while, man. Really good,” Musgrove said. “… Love that dude.”

Musgrove said Waldron inched nearer to staying than he realized. When doubts crept in, he sometimes struggled to see what others did. When he wondered if he could do it, he already had been.

The Padres do not end up where they did — winning 90-plus games, hosting a playoff series — without Waldron.

Musgrove explained his thoughts on Waldron in the tone of a caring and protective older brother. Does start No. 162 matter with so little at stake?

“I feel like his biggest fault was not believing in himself enough,” Musgrove said.”Everybody in here believed in him more than he believed in himself. … I feel like he thought he wasn’t good enough or had to keep up with guys like (Yu) Darvish and myself. And he was doing more than he needed to and more than anybody expected him do.

“We tried to stress that on him. ‘You belong here, man.’ I know he’s just a mentality switch away from being a really consistent starter.”

Whispers around Chase Field indicated the Padres were leaning toward the move to bring Waldon back. If they had reversed field, flipped the order and optioned Waldron first, baseball rules would have made him ineligible for the next round.

Bringing up Waldron now would create the dual benefit of making him potentially available as the team moved forward, while energizing the clubhouse in one swipe of the pen.

There would be Waldron, eating up more innings while others eased off the accelerator.

“(Waldron and Vasquez are) guys that have given everything they’ve had, gave us their best and were really good at times,” Musgrove said. “Reward them a little bit with one more start and help pick up the guys again.”

The only potential loser in the move could be the team in the other dugout.

Imagine being the Diamondbacks, preparing for announced starter Martin Perez while fighting for the last gasps of playoff oxygen … and getting the knuckleballer Waldron instead.

The Braves and Mets, also fighting for two spots that will leave one of the teams out, probably would be fine with the late wrinkle.

Waldron logged more innings than Musgrove and Darvish, who missed long stretches because of injury and personal reasons. Pointing Waldron to the mound would be more than a cap tip. It would be an emotional bear hug.

“We’re very fortunate we get to line things up the way we want with home field and all of that,” Cease said.

Include Waldron and that tantalizing knuckleball on the thank-you list.

Give him the ball.