{"id":453139,"date":"2026-02-06T20:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/453139\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T20:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:33:16","slug":"our-padres-spring-training-primer-concludes-with-a-look-at-relief-pitchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/453139\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Padres spring training primer concludes with a look at relief pitchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pitchers and catchers will report to the Padres\u2019 spring training complex next week ahead of the first full-team workout on Feb. 15.<\/p>\n

To get you prepped for spring training, we\u2019re taking a deep dive into each corner of the organization\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n

Finally, the Padres\u2019 bullpen arms:<\/p>\n

2025 recap<\/p>\n

Baseball ops chief A.J. Preller has made a habit of using the trade deadline to bolster postseason bullpens, from Trevor Rosenthal in 2020 to Josh Hader in 2022 to Tanner Scott and Jason Adam in 2024.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Padres already had three relievers (Adam, Robert Suarez, Adri\u00e1n Morej\u00f3n) named to the All-Star team when Preller stunned baseball by shipping away top prospect Leo De Vries to pry right-hander Mason Miller away from the Athletics.<\/p>\n

The move cemented the Padres\u2019 pen as the best in the game as no other unit accumulated more WAR, as their relievers\u2019 total (7.6) was nearly a win better than the next-best team. Padres relievers also led the majors in ERA (3.06), strand rate (77.3%) and opponent batting average (.206).<\/p>\n

Individually, Suarez (2.97 ERA) led the NL with 40 saves, Morej\u00f3n (2.08 ERA) led all relievers with 13 wins and Adam (1.93 ERA) was tied for second in the majors with 29 holds heading into September. Adding Miller into the mix enabled the Padres to shorten games even more in front of a compromised rotation and he was even better after the trade to San Diego, striking out 45 over 23\u2153 innings (0.77 ERA) and throwing an immaculate inning while mostly working as a set-up man ahead of Suarez.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s season-ending quad injury on Sept. 1 was a blow, to be sure, but the Padres\u2019 bullpen had the depth to survive the injury as Jeremiah Estrada (3.45 ERA) finished tied for fifth with 30 holds and fourth in appearances (70), David Morgan (2.66 ERA) impressed in his rookie season and Wandy Peralta (3.14 ERA) rebounded in his second season in San Diego.<\/p>\n

Come playoff time, the Padres\u2019 bullpen allowed just two runs in 13\u2154 innings (1.32 ERA), with Miller striking out eight over 2\u2154 hitless innings across two games and Morej\u00f3n throwing 4 \u2153 scoreless innings across three games.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AdrianAdrian Morejon\u00a0#50 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Chicago Cubs during Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field on Oct. 1, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nCurrent picture<\/p>\n

Suarez left as a free agent to work as a set-up man in Atlanta, meaning Miller will slide into the ninth inning. The team has four more years of control of Miller, so a move back to the rotation was considered this offseason before both parties decided to keep their most electric pitching asset pitching in the role that\u2019s allowed him to be healthy and dominant the last two years.<\/p>\n

A free agent after the season, Morej\u00f3n will also remain in the bullpen, where he has found a home after years of shuffling between the majors, the minors and the injured list.<\/p>\n

Adam is trending toward a healthy start to spring training, which means the team could open the season with its preferred victory formation \u2014 Miller, Adam, Morej\u00f3n, Estrada, no matter the order \u2014 already in place.<\/p>\n

Beyond those four, lefties Peralta and Yuki Matsui (3.98 ERA) will be asked to get important outs in middle relief, Morgan figures to get a chance to earn more trust and rookie Bradgley Rodriguez (1.17 ERA) should get a chance to build on an impressive debut.<\/p>\n

Four relievers \u2014 Miller (United States), Peralta (Dominican Republic), Alek Jacob (Italy) and Ron Marinaccio (Italy) \u2014 will miss time in camp for the World Baseball Classic. Their absence could allow the Padres to get a longer look at depth options in camp. Some names: newcomers Daison Acosta and Ty Adcock,\u00a0returners Bryan Hoeing and Kyle Hart, minor leaguer Garrett Hawkins and non-roster invitees like left-handers Omar Cruz and Ryan Och and right-handers Manuel Castro, Logan Gillaspie and Francis Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BradgleyBradgley Rodriguez #72 of the San Diego Padres celebrates in the eleventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park on Sept. 22, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nOn the farm<\/p>\n

Elite relievers often begin their pro careers as starting pitchers, but the Padres have a good track record of bringing along relief prospects.<\/p>\n

Morgan made the jump last year and Rodriguez, 22, has been on the fast track since starting 2024 at low Single-A Fort Wayne.<\/p>\n

Up next: The 25-year-old Hawkins, who returned from Tommy John surgery to strike out 85 over 60 innings (1.50 ERA) last season while rising from high Single-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio. He was added to the 40-man roster for the first time this fall.<\/p>\n

The Padres\u2019 farm system ranks 29th out of 30, according to Baseball America, primarily because all of Preller\u2019s trades have forced a number of short-burst relievers into the organization\u2019s top-30: Rodriguez (9), right-hander Tucker Musgrove (12), Hawkins (23) and Pe\u00f1a (27).<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a took a step back last year at Triple-A El Paso (4.99 ERA), but Musgrove emerged as an intriguing prospect in the Arizona Fall League, where he was touching 99 mph with 6 feet, 9 inches of extension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pitchers and catchers will report to the Padres\u2019 spring training complex next week ahead of the first full-team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2558,363,2328,99],"class_list":["post-453139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}