Padres Receive Casey Mize Update After Freak Injury

Through four starts with San Diego, Mize is 1-1 with a 7.00 ERA and 1.56 WHIP over 18 innings. He has recorded 10 strikeouts compared to issuing seven walks, while opposing batters are hitting .292 off him.

Yet those numbers are a result of two quality outings and two poor ones. In Mize’s Padres debut on Aug. 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he allowed eight runs on nine hits, surrendered a home run, and issued three walks while striking out just one over 3.1 innings.

Mize bounced back over his next two games with two quality starts, in which he gave up two runs over 12 innings. However, his fourth start with San Diego on Saturday against the Twins was a dud.

Before leaving due to injury, Mize allowed four runs on four hits, including three home runs, and one walk over 2.2 innings while failing to record a strikeout.

The long ball has been a particular issue. Mize had given up five home runs in four starts with the Padres. That total already matches the five he allowed in 16 starts with the Detroit Tigers before being traded at the MLB trade deadline.

Nonetheless, the fact that X-rays came back clean and that Mize’s injury does not seem to be severe is good news. Mize has been placed on the 15-day injured list twice this season with the Tigers, first on April 29 because of a right adductor strain and then a month later because of right adductor inflammation.

As a whole, San Diego’s starting rotation has enjoyed a resurgence during the team’s second-half surge. Before Mize’s injury-shortened start Saturday, the Padres’ starters posted five consecutive quality starts. Walker Buehler has three straight himself after pitching six innings of one-run ball in San Diego’s 8-1 win over Minnesota on Sunday to complete the sweep.

That success has come without either Joe Musgrove or Nick Pivetta. However, Musgrove is inching closer to a return from Tommy John surgery after making his third rehab start on Aug. 14, while Pivetta could soon resume his rehab assignment after it was paused earlier this month. Pivetta has not pitched in an MLB game since April 12 because of right elbow inflammation and has made just four starts in 2026.

The Padres’ rotation is in a much better place than it was before the MLB trade deadline, when they acquired both Mize and Robbie Ray. A healthy Mize who pitches like he did during his 2025 All-Star campaign and first half of 2026 with the Tigers only makes the Padres more of a contender.

San Diego has the best record in baseball since July 24, going 21-7. Entering Monday, the Padres (71-60) have a two-game edge over the Diamondbacks for the final National League wild-card spot.

San Diego opens a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday at 9:40 p.m. ET with Ray on the mound.