The Padres left Thursday night with a win on the field and a clearer picture of where they stand in the race. San Diego handled the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1, to move to 60-56, and they’re still sitting one game behind Arizona for the National League’s final wild-card spot.
Off the field, the organization has been busy reshaping the roster. The Padres recently released 17 players from the organization, a sweeping move that included 10 pitchers, three infielders, three catchers and one outfielder.
President of baseball operations AJ Preller also addressed one of the biggest questions hanging over the trade deadline: how close the Padres came to moving Mason Miller. Preller made clear the club was willing to listen, but only within a very specific framework.
"With any one of our players, it's a very clear bar. We're gonna listen at all times to any conversation that a team wants to bring up," Preller said.
"Ultimately, it's a high bar for all of our players, and I think for us, we had to be in a spot where you're going to be open to, 'How do you improve the team and the organization? What's the best path?'"
The deadline conversation inevitably circles back to the Dodgers, who made one of the biggest moves by landing two-time Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers. While plenty of people around the game have taken issue with what Los Angeles is doing, Preller didn’t go there when asked about the division rivals.
"You kind of expect that a lot of teams in our division, especially the Dodgers, are going to improve every single year. Personally, when you have great teams and you have great players, it just raises the bar of other people and other players and other teams," Preller said.
The Padres’ recent news cycle has also included a handful of other developments, from a reliever losing his house in a Spokane fire and starting a GoFundMe for donations to the club appearing to identify its fifth starter and potentially setting up a dominant rotation. San Diego also cut ties with an 11-year veteran and officially activated Robbie Ray.
In Other News...
Padres Made A Surprising Outfield Decision After A Red-Hot Triple-A Run
A brief Triple-A surge wasnt enough to keep Dustin Harris in the Padres organization, even after he arrived and immediately gave El Paso a lift. The outfielder got into 16 games for the Chihuahuas and put together a .329 average with four home runs, a run that suggested he might be building some momentum in a crowded system.
Instead, San Diego moved on after less than a month, leaving Harris once again looking for his next opportunity. The 2019 draftee has now already bounced through stops with the White Sox and Astros before landing briefly with the Padres, a reminder of how quickly depth-chart decisions can change even when a player is swinging well. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Rotation Wait On Nick Pivetta Just Got More Complicated
Nick Pivettas road back to the Padres took another detour this week when the club halted his rehab assignment for further evaluation after he left during the first inning of a Low-A Lake Elsinore game. Manager Craig Stammen framed the move as precautionary, tied to Pivettas recovery from the flexor strain he sustained in April, but any pause in a rehab program always adds a little more uncertainty to a rotation that has already been waiting longer than expected.
The bigger picture here reaches beyond the immediate health check, because the timeline around this injury is now carrying contractual stakes as well. Pivettas next steps will matter not just for when San Diego can count on him again, but also for how his stay on the injured list could affect a future salary and contract option, turning what looked like a straightforward rehab return into something the Padres have to monitor on multiple fronts. [Read more 🡒]
Robbie Rays Padres Debut Comes With One Brutal Test
Robbie Rays first look in a Padres uniform comes with an opponent that has given him plenty of trouble before. The left-hander, recently acquired by San Diego, arrives with solid momentum this season at 10-6 and a 3.08 ERA, and the club is banking on the version of Ray it has seen lately rather than the one Houston has usually been able to solve.
Still, the Astros have been a bad memory for him more often than not, which makes this assignment a meaningful early measuring stick for San Diegos newest arm. Rays pitching style and results have changed since those earlier meetings, but his track record against Houston lingers in the background, adding a layer of pressure to what should be one of the more watched outings of his Padres stint. [Read more 🡒]