LOS ANGELES — A quad injury cost Jason Adam the chance to help the Padres in last year’s NL Wild Card Series. The team is intent on seeing what the 35-year-old veteran can provide this time around.
Out since late June with a shoulder injury, Adam was activated ahead of Wednesday’s 7:10 p.m. start at Dodger Stadium. To make room, right-hander Griffin Canning was optioned to Triple-A El Paso and reliever Alek Jacob was designated for assignment to allow Adam to rejoin the 40-man roster.
“We saw last year when he got hurt how much we missed him just within the team dynamic and what he provides as experience out there in the bullpen,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “We’ve got a lot more experience than what we had last year in the bullpen right now with those guys being together. But Jason’s a big part of that. He’s a big part of that group out there, and then he’s a pretty darn good pitcher also.”
A first-time All-Star last year, Adam allowed nine runs on seven hits and two walks over 1⅓ innings across three rehab appearances with El Paso. But both he and the team were satisfied with the stuff he showed in hitter-friendly conditions, as well as in live batting practice on Monday, and added his experience to a bullpen that was a strength last year and this year.
Adam’s velocity has trended down from about 95 mph the year the Padres acquired him in 2024 (1.95 ERA) to 94 mph last year (1.93 ERA) to 93 mph this year (2.51 ERA). He missed time earlier in the year as he returned from last year’s season-ending quad surgery and said Tuesday he was eager to get back in the thick of a postseason push.
“Yeah, I’d love to be part of every game,” Adam said after joining the team at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. “What this team’s doing is really special. So I just want to fill my role, however that looks, and help them win ballgames. We’ve seen pretty well that this team’s good with or without me. I just want to do my part to contribute.”
Ousted from the rotation earlier this summer, Canning was better as a reliever (3.82 ERA in 35⅓ innings) than as a starter (6.79 ERA in 50 ⅓ innings) and had been critical in helping the team piece together games ahead of the trade deadline. But the team only needs three starters for the NL Wild Card Series, he was behind the likes of Robbie Ray, Casey Mize and Randy Vásquez in terms of depth arms for a short series and David Morgan has allowed one run in his last 7⅔ innings to seemingly cement his spot in the depth chart ahead of Canning.
The Padres optioning Canning to the minors means he cannot return to the active roster without an injury until the middle of the NL Division Series, after 15 days.
Jacob, 28, had a 5.58 ERA in 61⅓ innings at Triple-A El Paso and 4.18 ERA in 56 innings across parts of four seasons in the majors. He pitched in three games this year, allowing three runs in five innings as an up-and-down arm.
Ohtani returns, Salas starts
As expected the Dodgers reinstated Shohei Ohtani (biceps, knee from the injured list, as well as left-hander Tarik Skubal from the bereavement list. To make room, outfielder Josue De Paula and Hurt were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Ohtani will bat second and serve as the designated hitter for the Dodgers, who have won eight of 11 so far against the Padres this year. Ohtani was 0-for-3 when he last played on Sept. 9 and was in a .122/.295/.184 slide over his last 13 games.
Tonight’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Padres: pic.twitter.com/SyL3INJl9z
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 23, 2026
As for the Padres, Ethan Salas will get his first start at Dodger Stadium and second pairing with left-hander Robbie Ray. The only starter he has not worked with is Michael King.
Salas (.627 OPS) was 1-for-2 off the bench on Tuesday. He will bat ninth in a lineup that will see Samad Taylor (.856 OPS) get the start as the DH after Austin Hays did so on Tuesday.
Tonight’s lineup. pic.twitter.com/zLU04b89qh
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 23, 2026
While the Padres’ lead on the Diamondbacks was shaved from five to four games with five games left in the season — including three head-to-head matches in San Diego — Tuesday’s loss did little to diminish postseason odds, which are at 93.5% according to FanGraphs.com.
As was the case on Tuesday, any combination of two Padres wins and/or Diamondbacks losses will clinch the team’s third straight postseason berth.
Right-hander Merrill Kelly (9-14, 5.00 ERA) will start at Coors Field for Arizona against Rockies right-hander Mason Adams (0-1, 5.09 ERA). First pitch there is 5:40 p.m..
The Padres, Cubs and Phillies all began Wednesday with identical 87-70 records, although the Padres have to finish ahead of both teams to earn home games in the NL Wild Card Series as they lost both season series.
The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch a first-round bye over the Braves is 1. They are also one game ahead of the Brewers in the race for the NL’s No. 1 seed.
The San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado shows his frustration as he walks back to the dugout after striking out during the eighth inning of a game against the Dodgers on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Glass half full
The Dodgers just about emptied the bullpen in Tuesday’s 7-0 win over the Padres. In the aftermath of another bullpen game slowing an offense that ranks first in the majors this month in OPS (.835), a half-glass-full view of what transpired was worth taking forward.
The Padres saw all but two relievers — Kris Bubic and Evan Phillips — in their first shutout loss since Aug. 25 and they still had two more games to wade through in Chavez Ravine.
“They’re really good bullpen arms, so the more you can see them, the better shot you have,” first baseman Ty France said late Tuesday night. “But just move on to (Wednesday) and try to put some better at-bats together.”
The challenge of a bullpen game is a hitter rarely sees a pitcher twice and the Padres are especially proficient when they see relievers more than once.
They rank 10th in the majors with a .712 OPS against relievers, but 17th the first time they see a reliever (.704) and first the second time they see a reliever (.998 OPS).
Right-hander Kyle Hurt was the only pitcher to finish two innings and he allowed just one hit and faced seven batters while taking down the sixth and seventh innings.
Left-hander Jack Dreyer and right-hander Edwin Diaz got through their frames without giving up a baserunner. The rest of the slate of relievers all faced five batters or less.
In short, things went about as optimal as the Dodgers could hope for from a unit ranks 12th in the majors with a 3.82 ERA.
“The Dodgers bullpen’s got some good arms in it,” Stammen said. “They’re bringing out guys that have really good stuff. But the best way to do it is to play a little small ball and try to beat them that way. We just didn’t have the opportunity to play that way and score one run at a time (after) we get down 4-0. That kind of eliminates that way of playing baseball. But you know, we’ve seen their arms now for the rest of the series, and hopefully that benefits us going forward the next two days.”
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Padres LHP Robbie Ray (13-8, 3.60 ERA)
He’s got a 5.22 ERA in eight starts since the trade deadline. His last start (6 IP, 3 ER) was one of three quality starts as a Padre and a 6-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio was his best since the trade. Ray has a 3.81 ERA in 26 career starts against the Dodgers, but he has allowed 15 earned runs in 19 ⅓ runs over four starts over the last two years.
Here is how Ray has fared against current Dodgers:
Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-8, 2.51 ERA)
He’s thrown a career-high 179 innings while allowing a career-low 5.7 hits per nine innings. His 14 wins are also a new career best. Yamamoto has a 3.76 ERA in seven regular-season starts against the Padres and a 1.35 ERA in three starts this season (20 (IP, 6 BBs, 22 Ks).
Here is how Yamamoto has fared against current Padres in the regular season:
