The San Diego Padres acquired Casey Mize to firm up their rotation at the MLB trade deadline. That effort got off to a bad start on Wednesday.
In his first game in a Padres uniform, Mize allowed 9 hits, 8 runs and 3 walks in 3 1/3 innings of work against the Arizona Diamondbacks, in a game with significant wild-card implications. The D-backs won 10-4 to improve their lead over San Diego to two games for the final NL playoff spot.
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The Padres acquired Mize in a buzzer-beating deal with the Detroit Tigers on Monday, giving up top pitching prospect Kash Mayfield and organizational depth arm Jackson Wolf for the former No. 1 overall pick as well as utility man Gage Workman.
Despite not currently holding a playoff spot, the Padres were among the heaviest buyers at the deadline, also acquiring starting pitcher Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants and reliever Hunter Stratton from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Mize got into trouble early, allowing his first two baserunners to reach in the first inning, but his first two runs came in the third inning and the bottom dropped out in the fourth. Mize was pulled after walking Gabriel Moreno with the bases loaded, and all three remaining runners on base eventually scored.
Any start with those numbers is going to be concerning, but it gets even worst when looking under the hood at Baseball Savant. Mize got only two swings-and-misses total on 39 swings. That ties for the fewest whiffs by an Padres pitcher all season (min. 50 pitches).
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Mize’s game has never been built on racking up strikeouts, but that’s another level of futility.
Before Wednesday, Mize hadn’t allowed more than five earned runs all season. His steadiness was a selling point for a Padres team that badly needed to stabilize its rotation.
In a related story, Ray’s Padres debut is scheduled for Friday against the Houston Astros.
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