Good morning,
What transpired in ballparks 350 miles apart last night might suggest to the longtime San Diego sports fan that it is only a matter of time before hopes are dashed once again.
As the Padres were failing in their comeback attempt after a second starter they acquired to save their season got beat up at Petco Park, the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers at Chase Field on a walk-off home run from a rookie center fielder.
That game the Padres gained in the standings on Thursday? Given back.
Robbie Ray can’t continue a two-month run of dominance to help the Padres, but Ryan Waldschmidt can hit his second career home run to help the Diamondbacks? Figures.
But no. Come on. Really, this turn of events was nothing more than another twist in what you had to know was going to be a wrenching run to the finish.
There is a lot of time left to be elated and deflated some more.
Now, the troubling part is that the Padres are in no position for this to keep happening. A two-game deficit cannot become four or five by the end of this homestand.
That math becomes difficult to finagle in the Padres’ favor, even though there will be 40 games remaining after Wednesday. Such a predicament would probably require the Padres to win six or seven of every 10 games while the Diamondbacks (or Phillies) play no better than .500 the rest of the way.
By no means impossible. But not something these Padres have done a lot. (They had back-to-back 7-3 stretches in April, one in May, a 6-4 run in June and an 8-2 run recently.)
Last night’s 6-3 loss to the Astros should not make anyone in the organization feel good about being able to stack wins. Not with that kind of output.
Ray’s debut was not the only letdown.
The mercurial Padres offense had a starting pitcher making his fourth start back from major elbow surgery staggered multiple times and didn’t knock him out until too late. And then they failed to get a two-out hit in two innings once they got into the Astros bullpen.
The Padres are by many measures one of the best offenses in the major leagues over the past month. But their tendency to yo-yo between getting an excess of hits and runs one day and repeatedly failing to get the necessary hits the next day is concerning.
However, as stated in my game story (here), even a comeback completed last night would not have entirely rinsed the charred taste of Ray’s debut. Not when it came two days after Casey Mize’s disastrous debut.
That is not what the Padres anticipated when they invested more than $6 million and three of their top 10 prospects at Monday’s trade deadline in an effort to save their season.
That truly is what the moves to get Ray from the Giants and Mize from the Tigers were, as the additions enabled the Padres to move away from the unsustainable all-staff pitching approach that had gotten them through the previous two weeks.
Whatever happened last night and whatever happens today and tomorrow, the residue of those introductory starts will linger until Ray and Mize start again.
And do better.
And they almost certainly will.
They both have another eight or nine starts to be what the Padres need.
“I think that’s what you get these starters for the period of time that you’re getting them,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “You’re looking at, ‘Will we be better with those guys over a period of time?’ Not just in one single first start. I know the reaction is, ‘This is their first start.’ And they didn’t pitch their best (games) of the season. But they didn’t pitch their best every single time early in the season either. So it’s kind of the ebbs and flows of the season, and we’re thankful that they’re on our team and looking forward to the next eight, nine, 10 starts (and) playoff starts that they get.”
It was in that vein that Ray clearly viewed his outing.
Unlike the career-worst start that Mize endured on Wednesday, Ray’s clunker was of the normal variety of subpar games.
It was out of place for what he has done since early June, having brought a 1.09 ERA over his previous eight games into last night’s start. But he did not set season highs in hits, runs or walks. He often allows a lot of baserunners. He wasn’t as good once batters reached last night.
“Just gotta settle in,” Ray said. “This is the first one. Just got to limit the walks, but that’s something I can work on in my bullpen. Just a little bit better command.”
Take and give
Some aggressive running got Sung-Mun Song to second base to lead off the third inning.
The speedy rookie rounded first base hard on his line drive to the gap in right field, which seemingly caused Astros right fielder Cam Smith to try to field the ball at high speed on the run. And when Smith’s pickup attempt missed and the ball rolled past him, Song ran to second.
But two pitches later, with Tatis at the plate, Song got too aggressive.
He inexplicably tried to steal third base and was thrown out.
“I’ll take the blame for him running there,” Stammen said. “I should have had a red light — down 3-0, leadoff guy on second, top of the order up. Just didn’t give him the red light. Kind of trust our base runners a little bit, maybe a little bit too much in that situation. We’ve got to correct that. I’ve got to correct that, and we will do that tomorrow.”
Pivetta update
Nick Pivetta spoke at length for the first time since shortly after he was diagnosed with an elbow flexor strain in April.
He worked hard to say little, in part because there is little known right now as the reins have been pulled back on his rehab.
He played long toss out to 150 feet yesterday.
According to sources, it remains possible Pivetta starts a minor-league game Tuesday or Wednesday, but that is considered a day-to-day development based on how Pivetta feels.
You can read more about Pivetta in Jeff Sanders’ pregame story (here).
Cup of Joe
Joe Musgrove is the opposite of Pivetta when it comes to talking.
The hometown kid considers being forthright with the media — and, thus, the public – a part of his job. (He also told me once that he considers speaking with the media a sort of therapy that helps him work through his thoughts.)
Musgrove is headed toward a rehab start Sunday in Reno pitching for Triple-A El Paso. The hope is that he gets at least into the fourth inning on 50 to 60 pitches. Should he come out of that feeling good and then do it again five days later and feel good, he could be pitching for the Padres around the time they begin a homestand on Aug. 21.
Musgrove was asked yesterday afternoon whether the Padres’ acquisitions of Ray and Mize took any pressure of his feeling the need to hurry back.
His answer provided insight into his goals.
“Maybe mentally,” he said. “I don’t think it changes a whole lot with how I’m pushing to get back and the time frame I want to get back. I want to be back as soon as possible, especially now that I’m feeling physically capable of it. I’m more enticing them to push me a little bit quicker. But it provides a little bit of mental relief, I guess, that it’s not like we’re wearing our bullpen out every day, and now we’ve got some starters in there that can throw some innings and get some length out of it. Guys that have done it for a while. So that part of it feels good.”
Here is the crucial part:
“But it’s not like having them back is allowing me to kind of ease off the gas and slow things down,” he continued. “I’m still pushing to get back as soon as possible. I want to get as many reps and as many outings under my belt as I can before we get into that postseason push.”
One thing Musgrove has been clear about is that his return is not just about being back. It’s about being good.
And that is almost certainly going to take a bit longer than late August.
Musgrove can work out some mechanical issues and build up some stamina and get used to the routine while making rehab starts. But the adrenaline of pitching in the big leagues and intricacies of facing big-league hitters is different.
Recovery from major surgery varies, perhaps especially so with Tommy John surgery. Plus, Musgrove also had a flexor tendon repair at the same time. And he is pitching without cartilage in his elbow.
But a somewhat apt example of there being a runway even after a rehab assignment is over was seen on the mound at Petco Park last night.
Astros starter Ronel Blanco was making his fourth start back from having a two-pronged surgery, an internal brace procedure to fix the UCL in his elbow and a flexor tendon repair.
Blanco was effectively wild for a few innings before the Padres scored twice in the fourth inning and Fernando Tatis Jr. ended Blanco’s night with a massive home run in the fourth.
Blanco has allowed at least three runs in each of his starts, three of which have gone 4⅔ innings with the longest lasting 5⅓.
Other updates
Starting pitcher Lucas Giolito has not begun a rehab assignment. After his shoulder inflammation calmed down, Giolito got his fastball velocity up and was progressing toward pitching in minor-league games but never got there. He threw a live batting practice recently and continues to throw in the bullpen at the team’s facility in Peoria, Ariz.
Reliever Jason Adam’s shoulder strain still has not healed to the point he can throw. The timetable for his return continues to get pushed back, though the Padres believe he can ramp up quickly once he is cleared to throw, and he could return in September.
Designated hitter Miguel Andujar was out of the splint on his fractured right wrist yesterday, but he is still not doing baseball activity. The Padres were awaiting X-rays as of yesterday afternoon.
Outfielder Samad Taylor (oblique) has ramped up his baseball activity this week in Arizona.
A moment
Tatis’ 10th home run of the season came at the end of an interesting at-bat in which he was only in the batter’s box for three of the five pitches he saw from Blanco.
Tatis stepped out as Blanco was delivering a 1-0 pitch because he felt Blanco had not made eye contact with him, as is required. That pitch was called a strike. Tatis then stepped out before the next pitch and looked back at umpire Jim Wolf. The pitch was above the zone, and Wolf did let Blanco know he needed to look at Tatis.
“I felt like he was starting a little bit early,” Tatis said. “… After that, just check in again and try to do a positive result for the boys.”
After another ball, Tatis sent a slider hung up in the middle of the plate 400 feet to the second balcony of the Western Metal building.
Tatis tossed his bat a few feet behind him and stepped slowly toward first base, practically stopping at one point and then embarking on a trip around the bases that took. 32.52 seconds.
It was the slowest home run trot of his career.
Fernando Tatis Jr makes it a one-run game with a MOON SHOT! ☄️
(via @Padres)pic.twitter.com/0yPvb8tBN4
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 8, 2026
There was a time when Tatis regularly provided moments like that.
But this was perhaps most reminiscent of the time in 2019 when Shaun Anderson came up and in with a fastball that caused Tatis to hit ground before hitting the next pitch over the wall.
The home run was the 162nd of Tatis’ career, moving him out of tie with Adrián González for third most in Padres’ history. Tatis’ next homer will tie him for second with Nate Colbert. After that, only Manny Machado (217) will be ahead of him.
Rest before the sprint
First baseman Ty France did not start last night for the first time in 24 games.
“He’s been playing quite a bit here lately, and we’re in that big stretch of a lot of games without a day off,” Stammen said. “So I think this homestand there’ll be a few guys getting a day to catch a breath and then get back at it after that.”
The Padres have five games remaining in a stretch of 16 games without a day off and 26 games in 27 days.
They are off Thursday and then play more than six days in a row just once the rest of the season. That is a 10-day stretch from Sept. 11-20.
Tidbits
Luis Campusano singled, walked and was hit by a pitch last night. He has a .408 on-base percentage in 130 plate appearances. I wrote in yesterday’s newsletter about the offensive surge by the Padres’ catchers. Campusano and Freddy Fermin are batting a combined .324 with an .809 OPS in 21 games since July 17.
Wandy Peralta allowed a run in the eighth inning last night. He has allowed at least one run in eight of his 15 appearances since July 2 after allowing opponents to score in just five of his first 37 appearances. His ERA has swelled from 1.62 to 3.45.
The Padres grounded into two double plays last night, moving into a tie with the Athletics and Pirates for second most in the majors behind the Dodgers (97).
Jackson Merrill, whose triple scored Machado last night, has scored in four consecutive games and has a home run and/or an RBI in 15 of his past 18 starts. He has 18 RBIs and has scored 15 runs in that span. His 1.087 OPS in that time (since July 19) is fifth highest in MLB.
All right, that’s it for me.
Jeff Sanders will have our usual game coverage on our Padres page today.
No newsletter tomorrow. The next Padres Daily will be in your inbox Monday morning.
Talk to you then.