A day later, Casey Mize still had a slight limp as he walked across the clubhouse Sunday morning from the training room to his locker. Postgame imaging had ruled out a serious injury in his sprained right ankle, and the 29-year-old was at least feeling optimistic a day after he was forced to exit his start after slipping down the dugout stairs.
That said, Mize is the definition of day-to-day as he moves toward his next expected start.
“It’s sore,” Mize said. “It’s a little swollen, tender, but (I) woke up pretty encouraged with how I’m feeling. We’re just going to treat it a ton, do a lot of exercises and then reevaluate — I think probably daily. But a little bit encouraged on how I’m waking up feeling today.”
The calendar should help the Padres manage Mize’s ankle without needing to accelerate Joe Musgrove’s progression as he prepares to return to the rotation.
The Padres are off Thursday, giving Mize an extra day of rest should the team simply decide to push everyone in the rotation back a day.
The Padres could also decide to skip Mize’s next scheduled start, have everyone pitch on regular rest. The team doesn’t need a fifth starter until Sept. 1 in Cincinnati.
Musgrove is scheduled to throw a minor league rehab start at a to-be-determined affiliate on Tuesday.
Mize slipped down the dugout steps between Saturday’s second and third innings. He convinced Padres manager Craig Stammen and head athletic trainer Mark Rogow to attempt to pitch through the rolled ankle, but his fastball dipped from as high as 94 mph in the first inning to 90 to 91 mph after the injury.
Mize recorded two outs in the third inning, then gave up a double and was lifted after 47 pitches in his fourth post-trade start for the Padres.
The good news is X-rays did not reveal any fractures in the right ankle.
Time will tell if he’s able to make his next start, he said.
“I’ll be a little bit limited today in what I can do,” Mize said of beginning his between-starts work. “But we’re going to make sure I’m doing as much as I can to continue to make sure the rest of my body is in the best shape and prepared to go out there and make the start.”
More chaos theory
Stammen didn’t mince words late Saturday night: Griffin Canning was his player of the game.
Canning threw 10 pitches on Aug. 15 and hadn’t seen any action since.
But Mize’s early exit forced the Padres into familiar territory: pitching chaos.
Kyle Hart was the first up. Then when he needed help, it was Canning’s turn to hold the line.
Which he did.
Canning got Byron Buxton to line out with a runner on second to end the fourth inning with the Twins leading 5-1. He stranded two singles in the fifth inning, fetched two outs without giving up a run with the bases loaded in the sixth and turned in a one-two-three seventh inning ahead of the go-ahead rally.
“Yeah, it was fun,” Canning said Sunday morning. “Worked out well. I think my job there is just kind of come in and try and get some momentum back on our side, have some quick innings and throw up some zeros. So I was able to do that and then offense did their thing.”
Canning threw 46 pitches over 3⅓ scoreless innings, scattering three hits, a walk and a hit batter.
“It’s just my role now,” he said. “So I just want to be the best I can be at my role.”
San Diego Padres’ Ty France, watches his two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Vive la France
The custom bats that hitters wield during Players’ Weekend can be a bit hit-and-miss as far as the feel goes. So Ty France was doubly excited to hit a home run on Friday night while swinging a France-themed “baguette” bat.
“It felt really good,” he said late Friday night. “Especially with theme bats, you never know how they’re going to feel. I felt like every year it’s felt different, but this one feels solid.”
So it was a heavy heart that France retired that bat on Saturday night after it shattered on a second-inning groundout. His normal lumber was in his hands for the go-ahead hit in the seventh inning; there was no backup baguette.
“That one hurt,” France said of his broken baguette.
Notable
RHP Nick Pivetta (flexor) will throw a bullpen session on Monday, which the team expects will put him in line to resume a minor league rehab assignment as soon as the middle of the week.