The Padres went into the trade deadline looking for help on the mound, but the Casey Mize move has turned into a rough one for San Diego in short order.
Mize was supposed to give a mediocre rotation some stability after the Padres brought him in from the Tigers, yet the results never came. His stint in San Diego started with a brutal outing - nine hits and eight earned runs in 3.1 innings - and he never really found his footing after that. Over 44.2 innings with the Padres, the former No. 1 overall pick allowed 13 home runs, a rate of 2.6 per nine innings, and that’s a hard number to ignore for a pitcher brought in to steady things.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter summed up the deal bluntly: "The Padres paid a steep price for a two-month rental of Mize, who had a 2.70 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 85 strikeouts in 86.2 innings with the Tigers prior to the trade," Reuter wrote. "Expected to help solidify the top of the starting rotation, he was shelled for nine hits and eight earned runs in 3.1 innings in his Padres debut and never settled in with his new team."
The timing makes the whole thing sting even more. San Diego is preparing for the NLDS against the Brewers, and the first challenge is a big one: Jacob Misiorowski is lined up to start Game 1. Mize, meanwhile, is likely out because of a right ankle sprain he suffered in the Padres dugout.
Robbie Ray, the other rotation addition at the deadline, also didn’t deliver much of a boost. In nine starts, he put up a 5.02 ERA and gave up 39 hits in 43 innings.
And the cost of the Mize deal wasn’t small. Left-hander Kash Mayfield, who was San Diego’s No. 2 prospect at the time of the trade, went to Detroit in the deal. Mayfield has posted big strikeout numbers over the last two years at Single-A and High-A.
In Other News...
Padres Have Every Right To Be Furious About This Game 1 Twist
A strange break in Game 1 of the NLDS put the Padres in an early hole before the baseball really had a chance to breathe. Ty France sent a ball skyward at American Family Field, it struck a cable supporting the roof, and Jackson Chourio came down with it for an out. It was the kind of play that makes everyone in the ballpark stop and check the rule book, even if the answer winds up being more mundane than the reaction.
Under the parks ground rules, the ball stays live if it hits the cable above fair territory, so the ruling was correct. Still, the setting only added to the frustration for San Diego, with MLB controlling whether the roof is opened or closed in the postseason and the roof closed for this game. For a team trying to seize an early edge in October, it was the sort of twist that leaves plenty of room for argument, even if not much room for protest. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Open NLDS With Brutal Ending Fans Wont Stop Debating
The Padres NLDS opener in Milwaukee came down to one of those October moments that can linger long after the final pitch. San Diego dropped Game 1, 3-2, but the conversation afterward centered on Ty Frances drive in the top of the ninth, a ball that looked for a moment like it might flip the game and the series with one swing.
Instead, it hit the closed roof at American Family Field and was caught by Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio for an out, a ruling the Padres challenged before it was upheld under the stadiums ground rules. Milwaukee then finished off the final out, leaving San Diego to regroup and leaving fans to keep arguing about a play that felt one step away from changing everything. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Got A Massive Playoff Break Thanks To One Bizarre Bounce
A strange break in Milwaukee helped turn one of Game 1s biggest swings into a routine out, and the Padres were left to shake their heads. Ty France sent a deep fly toward the roof at American Family Field, where the ball took an odd bounce and was ultimately caught by Jackson Chourio, erasing what looked like a possible go-ahead homer for San Diego.
Craig Stammen challenged the call, but the umpires let it stand under the parks ground rule, which treated the ball as fair after it hit the roof. It was the kind of play that can feel unique to one stadium, one postseason game, and one unlucky sequence, especially since the balls path probably would have played differently in most major league parks. [Read more 🡒]