Vicente de la Cruz Padilla (born September 27, 1977) is a Nicaraguan former professional baseball pitcher.

Padilla pitched for Nicaragua in the 1998 Baseball World Cup, helping his team win the Bronze medal as the closer.

After working with former MLB pitcher Dennis Martínez to improve his change-up, Padilla was signed as an international free agent by the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 31, 1998.

He debuted in the minor leagues in 1999, playing for the Class-A Advanced High Desert Mavericks and earning a promotion to the Class-AAA Tucson Sidewinders.

Padilla made his Major League debut on June 29 against the Cincinnati Reds, pitching in the ninth inning and giving up four hits and three runs without recording an out, getting the loss and a blown save for the effort.

On July 26, 2000, Padilla was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Philadelphia Phillies along with three other players (Travis Lee, Nelson Figueroa and Omar Daal) for pitcher Curt Schilling.

[citation needed] In 2006, he and Kevin Millwood won 15 games; a total not matched by a Rangers pitcher until Scott Feldman surpassed it in 2009.

On October 10, 2009, Padilla was the starting and winning pitcher in the clinching Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching seven scoreless innings.

However, he picked up the loss, giving up six earned runs in three innings of work, in the deciding Game 5, allowing the Philadelphia Phillies to advance to the World Series for the second straight year.

On January 16, 2012, Padilla signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox that included an invitation to spring training.

On January 16, 2013, Padilla signed a one-year deal with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.