The San Diego Padres are on the outside looking in regarding the NL wild card picture and haven't gotten great contributions from their trade deadline acquisitions.
The San Diego Padres desperately needed to make a splash in the trade market for starting pitching before the deadline passed and did that by acquiring two starters having solid seasons.
The Padres landed former Cy Young-winning left-hander Robbie Ray from the division rival San Francisco Giants in exchange for prospect right-hander Miguel Mendez (Padres No. 4) and prospect shortstop Joniel Hernandez (No. 9).
Ray, 34, was 10-6 with a 3.08 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 107 strikeouts to 57 walks over 22 appearances (21 starts, 122.2 innings) with the Giants but has struggled with control even more since becoming a Padre. In six starts with San Diego, Ray is 1-2 with a 4.71 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and just 20 strikeouts to 20 walks over 28.2 innings.
It hasn’t worked out for Ray, who hasn’t really changed anything about how he was throwing the ball with San Francisco, and the Padres need him to lock in over the next couple weeks to end up where they want to be.
The other big acquisition was made at the buzzer; San Diego picked up Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize in exchange for left-handed pitcher prospect Kash Mayfield (Padres No. 2) and lefty Jackson Wolf right before time expired.
Mize has performed worse than Ray – posting a 1-3 record with a 6.67 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 15 strikeouts to nine walks over six starts (27 innings) after going 4-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 85 strikeouts to 19 walks over 16 starts (86.2 innings) with Detroit.
Despite providing negative impact on the team, San Diego’s playoff odds have increased since adding Mize, Ray and reliever Hunter Stratton who has only pitched in Triple-A.
“Other pickups haven't played much,” ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle wrote Thursday. “So, the early returns haven't been great for the acquisitions, yet the Padres rank fifth in post-deadline run differential and have solidified their playoff odds. They need that momentum to continue and, for that, they figure to need more consistency from their deadline adds.”
San Diego enters play Sunday sitting a half-game out of the third and final National League wild card spot, going for a rubber match victory over the New York Yankees. The Arizona Diamondbacks hold the final spot and face the Houston Astros with the series on the line.
Even better, the Padres will host the D-backs for the final series of the season, potentially squaring off in a win-and-in situation. San Diego will need Ray and Mize to be much better down the stretch.
First pitch of today's game is at 1:10 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.
