Full Breakdown
Padres Acquire Casey Mize, Add Starting Pitcher Ahead of Trade Deadline
8/4/2026, 12:41:51 PM
Core Event: Padres Trade for Casey Mize and Gage Workman
In the final minutes before the 3 p.m. trade deadline, San Diego completed a second starting-pitcher acquisition, sending top prospect Kash Mayfield and left-hander Jackson Wolf to Detroit for right-hander Casey Mize and utility infielder Gage Workman. The deal follows the Padres’ earlier acquisition of Robbie Ray from the Giants.
Background & Context
San Diego entered the season expecting a rotation anchored by Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta. Musgrove was shut down in spring training because of elbow cartilage loss, and Pivetta left his fourth start with a flexor-strain diagnosis. The club responded by shifting starters Germán Márquez, JP Sears and Randy Vásquez to the bullpen and relying on a “supersized” bullpen to reach nine innings. That approach yielded a 5-2 record but was always intended as a stopgap until the injured veterans could return.
Detroit, meanwhile, had built a rebuilding core around former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize and left-hander Tarik Skubal. Both pitchers were traded away within three days of the deadline, Skubal to the Dodgers and Mize to the Padres, as the Tigers restocked their farm system with multiple pitching prospects.
Data & Statistics
- Casey Mize entered the trade with a 2.70 ERA over 16 starts this season and a 3.23 ERA (39 IP) in seven starts after returning from two adductor-strain IL stints.
- Robbie Ray posted a 1.09 ERA across his past eight games, tied for the best mark in the majors over that span.
- Kash Mayfield, the Padres’ No. 2 prospect behind catcher Ethan Salas, threw 96 mph in limited work this year; his fastball sits in the low-90s and is projected to climb higher.
- Jackson Wolf, a 27-year-old left-hander, posted a 7.05 ERA with a 1.668 WHIP at Triple-A El Paso, allowing 16 homers in 89.1 IP.
Official Statements & Responses
Tigers president Scott Harris explained that the organization needed to address a pitching imbalance and saw the return of multiple arms as “a relative area of need.”
Verbatim Quotes
- “We really liked him in the (2024) draft and we kept our eye on him," Harris said.” — Scott Harris, president
- “He's touching 95 and he's still growing with his body,” — Scott Harris, president
- “He has all the attributes you look for in a starting pitcher and he's just now growing into his ability and ceiling,” — Scott Harris, president
- “We had to make a judgement call on whether it was worth pulling the trigger and making the deals or keeping the players and continue trying to flip the script on the season and fight our way back into the playoff picture,” — Scott Harris, president
What’s Next
Both sidelined veterans, Musgrove and Pivetta, are slated for low-A rehab starts at Lake Elsinore, with the club hoping they can rejoin the rotation around the third week of August. The Padres expect the added depth from Mize and Ray to stabilize the rotation while the injured starters recover. Detroit will likely deploy a bullpen-game approach as it integrates the newly acquired pitching prospects into its system.
