San Diego didn't sit still at the deadline. The Padres added Robbie Ray and Casey Mize to bolster the rotation, moves that speak to how badly they want to stay in the wild-card picture after Arizona jumped them in the standings with Monday's series opener.
The Padres have actually won 3 of their last 5, including two comeback wins over the Giants, so this isn't a team in freefall — it's a team that just ran into a buzzsaw in Rodriguez and Arizona's lineup. Vásquez, meanwhile, needs a bounce-back: his last time out he was pulled after just 2.2 innings against Miami.
Both rosters are banged up in the rotation, but Arizona's lineup — led by Corbin Carroll, now the franchise's all-time triples leader — has the higher ceiling right now. San Diego needs Vásquez to give length and keep this from turning into a bullpen game against a Diamondbacks team that's won 4 of its last 5.