Auburn Professional Athletes

Mize Makes a Statement in San Diego

The trade that sent Casey Mize to the Padres has drawn plenty of skepticism — analysts have called it one-sided, and the scrutiny hasn't been quiet. But on Wednesday, September 9, the Auburn product did his best work on the mound, striking out seven Nationals batters across 5.2 innings in a 5-4 San Diego win.

Mize allowed three earned runs, finishing the outing with his ERA sitting at 3.70 — respectable numbers for a pitcher whose tenure in San Diego has been under the microscope. Manny Machado provided the offensive cushion with a pair of RBIs, but Mize's arm was the story. Seven punchouts in a winning effort is the kind of performance that quiets a clubhouse's loudest doubters, even if it doesn't fully resolve the broader conversation about whether the Padres got fair value in the deal.

Diplomacy Off the Field

Mize also made headlines away from the box score this week, publicly defending former teammate Tarik Skubal — now with the Los Angeles Dodgers — amid a fresh wave of controversy surrounding the reigning Cy Young winner. It's a notable move for a pitcher still working to establish himself in San Diego, signaling that Mize isn't shy about speaking up even when the attention isn't entirely favorable.

The Bigger Picture

For Auburn fans tracking the program's MLB footprint, Mize remains the most prominent active name on the diamond. His September 9 start is the kind of outing that matters when roster decisions loom and front offices take stock heading into the final weeks of the regular season. Whether he can sustain it — and whether the Padres ultimately feel better about the trade that brought him west — will play out over the remaining schedule.

The rest of Auburn's MLB alumni corps was quiet during the period, with no notable stat lines emerging from the likes of Ryan Bliss in Seattle, Edouard Julien in Colorado, or any of the program's several pitching prospects dotting rosters across the league.

For now, Mize holds the flag — seven strikeouts, one win, and a few more days of roster security in a city that's been watching closely.

Auburn sent two pitchers to opposite ends of the MLB career arc this week — one savoring a first big-league moment, the other staring down an offseason of hard questions.

Blake Burkhalter's Cup of Coffee

It lasted exactly one day. That's how long Blake Burkhalter was on an active MLB roster before the Atlanta Braves sent him back to Triple-A Gwinnett — but the Auburn righty isn't likely to forget Tuesday, September 1, anytime soon.

Burkhalter made his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals, working one inning, striking out one, and allowing one earned run. Not a spotless ledger, but debuts rarely are. By all accounts, Burkhalter embraced the moment for what it was — a milestone, not a measuring stick. Sports Illustrated captured the righty soaking in the call-up, with the final score a secondary concern.

The business side moved fast. The Braves optioned Burkhalter back to Gwinnett on Wednesday to clear a roster spot for right-hander Elieser Hernandez, whose contract was selected from Triple-A. The roster math was cold, but the debut was real. For an Auburn program that has sent a steady stream of arms to professional baseball, Burkhalter is now officially part of that lineage.

He'll head back to the minors with a 9.00 ERA in one MLB inning — and a story worth telling.

Casey Mize and a Looming Free Agency Reckoning

Across the country in San Diego, Casey Mize is pitching through a far more complicated chapter. The Auburn right-hander is in the final year of his contract with the Padres, and Wednesday's outing against the Cincinnati Reds did little to strengthen his case for a big payday.

Mize went four innings, surrendered four earned runs, and struck out four — a performance that kept his ERA at 3.64 but underscored the inconsistency that has plagued his tenure in San Diego. The Padres acquired him from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline in a deal that, by multiple assessments, has increasingly looked one-sided in Detroit's favor.

Now Mize joins Michael King, Adrian Morejon, and Robbie Ray as Padres pitchers set to hit free agency when the season ends. San Diego faces real decisions about which, if any, of that group it wants to bring back — and Mize's performances down the stretch will either sharpen or soften that calculus.

For Auburn fans, the situation is worth watching. Mize was once one of the most celebrated pitching prospects in college baseball history out of Auburn, the first overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. The road since has included Tommy John surgery, a slow Tigers rebuild, and now an uncertain landing spot. Free agency could be a reset — or a reckoning with what he is at this stage of his career.

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Two Auburn arms, two very different moments. Burkhalter gets to carry his debut into the offseason. Mize has to figure out where he pitches next year.

Casey Mize's first month in San Diego has been nothing if not eventful — and not always in the way the Padres had in mind when they acquired the Auburn product at the trade deadline.

On Saturday, Aug. 23, Mize exited early against the Twins after slipping down the dugout steps and spraining his ankle — a freak, non-pitching injury that briefly threatened to derail one of the Padres' most significant deadline additions. He allowed four earned runs in just 2.2 innings that afternoon, the kind of outing San Diego would rather forget, and the ankle news amplified the concern. Imaging came back clean, however, and the club listed him as day-to-day.

That day-to-day tag lasted about as long as it needed to.

By Friday, Aug. 28, Mize was back on the mound against Tampa Bay — and this time he looked like the pitcher the Padres traded for. He went five full innings, surrendering just two earned runs and striking out one in a controlled, efficient outing that kept his ERA at a tidy 3.45. For a rotation that needed arms down the stretch, Mize's durability — literal and figurative — is exactly what the front office was buying.

Acquired from the Tigers, Mize was only making his fourth start for San Diego when the dugout-steps incident occurred. Context matters here: the Padres didn't give up assets at the deadline for a pitcher to get five weeks and a limp. They needed him for October baseball, and Mize's quick turnaround suggests he's locked in on that same goal.

The broader Auburn contingent in MLB had a quieter week. Of the two-dozen-plus Tigers alumni scattered across the league, none generated the kind of narrative arc Mize delivered. Mize remains the most prominent Auburn arm in the majors right now, and his performance Friday — pitching through what could have been a multi-week absence — only reinforces that status.

San Diego's playoff window is real, and Mize is now a meaningful piece of whether it opens or closes. One strange Saturday stumble, literally and figuratively, wasn't enough to keep him out. Auburn fans watching the NL West race have every reason to keep their eyes on the Padres rotation.