The Padres’ day began with a loss and a roster shuffle, and it ended with more questions than answers around the rotation.
San Diego dropped a 10-4 decision to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, slipping to 59-56 and moving two games behind the final National League wild-card spot. Casey Mize’s first start in a Padres uniform went sideways fast, as the right-hander was charged with eight earned runs on nine hits over 3.1 innings. Kyle Hart followed with 2.2 innings and three strikeouts, while Wandy Peralta and Griffin Canning each worked an inning to finish the game.
Before the loss was even in the books, the Padres parted with a pitcher who had spent six years in the organization. The move came after Jeremiah Estrada was activated from the injured list, and the knuckleballer was designated for assignment before the Toronto Blue Jays claimed him off waivers.
San Diego also made another roster cut tied to a pitching activation, this time clearing space for Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. An 11-year veteran was designated for assignment in that transaction.
The biggest update, though, came on Nick Pivetta. After a troubling moment in Tuesday’s rehab outing, when he left the mound after just 14 pitches and headed straight to the dugout, the right-hander got a more encouraging report on Wednesday. Manager Craig Stammen said Pivetta had a recovery day and threw out to 90 feet, adding that doctors were checking him out as a precaution, but that it sounded like it was “all systems forward” right now.
Stammen also made it clear he doesn’t want anyone getting ahead of themselves on Pivetta or Joe Musgrove. Asked about why president of baseball operations AJ Preller brought in three pitchers, including two for the rotation, Stammen pointed to the uncertainty surrounding both injured arms.
“I think that was the reasoning behind what AJ did,” Stammen said. “We don’t really know what Joe and Nick will be able to provide. We hope that they’re Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta that we’ve watched for a long time, but it’s just hard to predict what could happen.”
In Other News...
Padres Make A Surprising Pitching Cut As Robbie Ray Arrives
The Padres pitching shuffle took another turn as they added Robbie Ray from the Giants and Casey Mize from the Tigers, giving the staff two more arms as the season moves into a critical stretch. The move brings a familiar level of experience to San Diegos rotation mix and adds some immediate intrigue to how the club will sort out innings moving forward.
To clear space for Ray, San Diego designated German Marquez for assignment, a notable decision for a pitcher who had already logged time with the team this season. Marquez made 13 appearances for the Padres and finished with a 5.26 ERA before coming off the roster, underscoring how quickly the club is willing to keep reshaping its pitching depth in search of better results. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Pitcher Faces Heartbreaking Loss As Fans Rally Around Him
Alek Jacobs season has been shadowed by a devastating personal loss after the family home in Spokane, Washington was destroyed by the Old Trails Fire. The blaze displaced tens of thousands of people, but Jacobs family, including his sister and parents, are safe even as they lost all of their possessions.
Support has already started to pour in for the Padres pitchers family, with a GoFundMe campaign launched to help them begin rebuilding. By Wednesday night, it had raised more than $27,000, a reminder of how quickly fans can rally when baseballs off-field realities hit close to home. [Read more 🡒]
Casey Mizes Padres Debut Raised The Concern Fans Feared Most
Casey Mizes first start in a Padres uniform came with the kind of scrutiny that always follows a deadline pickup, and it arrived at a moment San Diego could least afford a clunker. Acquired to help stabilize the staff, Mize instead found himself trying to survive a rough afternoon against the Diamondbacks, while Fernando Tatis Jr. provided the lone late lift with a solo homer in the ninth that moved him into a tie for third on the clubs all-time home run list.
For the Padres, the concern was bigger than one loss in a 10-4 final. Mizes ERA climbed from 2.70 to 3.40 after a difficult debut, and the way the game unraveled only sharpened the questions about what kind of impact he can make down the stretch. San Diego brought him in for help, but the early read was less about reinforcement than damage control, and the follow-up starts now carry even more weight. [Read more 🡒]