PHOENIX — The Padres shored up their biggest weakness in a big way at the trade deadline.
“The starting pitching side … we knew that was an area we wanted to bolster,” president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said when his day of dealing was over. “And I think it lined up with what was out there on the market.”
The Padres made two trades involving major league players on Monday, landing starting pitchers Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, two experienced starters considered among the best available rotation pieces.
And the Padres needed rotation pieces, having recently drastically adjusted their pitching staff and gone to a two-man starting rotation with 11 pitchers in the bullpen filling the rest of the innings.
“We’ve kind of masked some of the shortcomings that we’ve had with the starting rotation here lately,” manager Craig Stammen said. “And these guys just help us a little bit in that regard. It … allows us to be a little bit more traditional and save some of these guys and not burn people out.”
Whether the moves made the Padres strong enough to continue a recent surge up the standings and help them into the postseason can be debated and will be determined. They did not trade for a left-handed-hitting outfielder, which leaves their lineup less potent than they desire.
What cannot be questioned after trading with the Giants for Ray and with the Tigers for Mize is that the Padres’ focus at this deadline was on 2026.
By once again trading from their farm system and getting two pitchers due to be free agents this offseason, the Padres signaled they were all in on making the playoffs for a third consecutive season and a fifth time in seven years.
“The moves we made, it was about giving this team an opportunity to go win and compete,” Preller said. “… We’re trying to win. We don’t apologize for it. We’re trying to win championships. We’re trying to get to the postseason and do it year after year. ”
The Padres will pay half of the $8.4 million owed Ray over the final 55 days of the season and the $2 million Mize is due, but they did not trade a player from their major league roster.
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However, the club jettisoned Kash Mayfield, considered by most publications to be their top pitching prospect, as part of the Mize deal. They also traded two other top-10 prospects for Ray in pitcher Miguel Mendez and infielder Joniel Hernandez.
Left-hander Jackson Wolf was also traded to the Tigers for Mize and Gage Workman, a left-handed hitter who has been in Triple-A but could be added as a utility player for the Padres.
Wolf was in Triple-A. Mayfield, the Padres’ first-round pick in 2024, was at Single-A Fort Wayne. Mendez was at low-A Lake Elsinore and Hernandez in the Dominican Summer League.
Multiple people familiar with talks the Padres were having over the past several days and into Monday afternoon said they were aggressively attempting to acquire an outfielder who hits left-handed.
That they did not end up doing so means they will continue to rely on a combination of switch-hitting Luis Rengifo, the left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets, the righty Jase Bowen and possibly Workman, who hits left-handed.
“There were a lot of different combinations we looked at,” Preller said. “We’ve talked about improving the offense with a left-handed bat and improving the rotation. We looked at ideas that would have helped us on the offensive end and on the pitching side, but ultimately they didn’t line up with what we felt was good for the Padres now or in the future.”
Even before the deadline, the Padres predicted their success this season would hinge on how their current players hit. Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill have turned around dismal seasons over the past two months, and entering Monday’s game the Padres ranked seventh in the major leagues in runs per game (5.32) and third in OPS (.787) since June 30.
“Ultimately, it didn’t line up for the left-handed bat, but we do like our options,” Preller said. “We’ve been one of the better offenses in the league over the last month. I think it’s continuing what we’re seeing. I think that’s going to be a big key. You’ve got to get your pitching right. If your pitching is right, it usually gives you a chance, and that’s ultimately where we ended up.”
A hitter would have been nice. Improving the starting rotation was imperative.
What the Padres were getting from their starting pitchers the majority of games was so meager that they recently shuffled their pitching staff to try to get through nine innings piecemeal most days.
They effectively moved starters Germán Márquez, JP Sears and Randy Vásquez to the bullpen and kept Michael King and Walker Buehler as their only traditional starters.
The Padres are 5-2 in the games they have navigated with their supersized bullpen, but the approach was always intended to be temporary because of the potential for it to overstress multiple arms.
The idea was that the need for such games would diminish after the trade deadline — and disappear later in August with the expected return of Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta from their respective elbow injuries.
The Padres began spring training with the expectation that King, Musgrove and Pivetta would be a reliably effective trio at the front of the rotation. But Musgrove was shut down in spring training due to discomfort caused by a lack of cartilage in his elbow, and Pivetta departed his fourth start of the season with what was diagnosed as a flexor strain in his elbow.
The two sidelined veterans make their first rehab starts Tuesday at low-A Lake Elsinore with the hope they return around Aug. 21 or 22.
Both returning to form is no longer an absolute necessity.
The 34-year-old Ray, whose 1.09 ERA over his past eight games is tied for best in the major leagues in that span, has a 3.08 ERA in 22 games (21 starts) this season. He has a 3.87 ERA in his 13-year career, which included his being named the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2021 while with the Blue Jays.
Mize, the No.1 pick in the 2018 draft and an All-Star in 2025, has a 3.44 ERA over his past 44 starts dating to the start of last season.
Just 16 of those starts have come this season, as the 29-year-old right-hander spent time on the injured list with an adductor (groin) strain twice this season. He has a 3.23 ERA in seven starts (39 innings) since returning from his last IL stint and a 2.70 ERA overall (86⅔ innings).
Ray held the Padres to one run on four hits over six innings in his most recent start. Mize was held out of his last start for the Tigers. So both could pitch in the Padres’ crucial series here against the Diamondbacks. The Padres have not announced starters for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Casey Mize throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Padres players, who assured Preller would be a buyer at the deadline by winning eight of their past nine games, are ready for whenever Ray and Mize arrive.
“Adding two guys of that caliber, who have been pretty good a minute in the big leagues, definitely boosts everyone else,” Xander Bogaerts said.
“A little wind at your back, addressing a need, getting those guys here and hopefully get them rolling the way they have been,” Mason Miller said, “we’ll be in a really good spot.”