Latest news with #AdrianMorejon
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Adrian Morejon's long-awaited ascension has come just in time for Padres
ST. LOUIS — Two months ago in Atlanta, Padres left-hander Adrian Morejon threw a 2-2 pitch to one of the most dangerous hitters on the planet. There were two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., playing in his first big-league game in a year, stood in the batter's box. The former National League MVP had already smashed a 467-foot leadoff home run, proving he was worth the wait that followed a second catastrophic knee injury. Advertisement Then the pitch, which left Morejon's hand at 91.2 mph, arrived over the plate. Acuña waved at it. Morejon pounded his glove as he hopped off the mound. The debut of his new changeup was a success. It's a kick-change, a pitch that has gained popularity around the game. Morejon grips it with his middle finger spiked on the ball, 'kicking' the axis forward on release and producing tailing movement. The results, in a small sample, have been noteworthy: Beginning with that Acuña at-bat on May 23, Morejon has thrown 27 changeups this season, all to right-handed hitters. Opponents are 0-for-10 with five strikeouts against the pitch. It's another reason Morejon has emerged as one of the best relievers in baseball. 'Watching him now get to this point in his career, the guy that we knew we had signed years ago, is very gratifying,' Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla said. Morejon, too, is proving worth the wait. He is only 26, but it has been close to a decade since he went from a heralded international amateur to a touted professional prospect, costing the Padres $22 million between his signing bonus and overage taxes. Along the way, he has been a 20-year-old rookie. He has also been a longtime project. He made at least one trip to the injured list in five consecutive seasons. For a while, he appeared on the verge of becoming an expensive bust. Now, after staying on the mound throughout a breakout 2024, he is still ascending. Morejon's 50 appearances are tied for the third most in the majors. He leads all relievers with eight wins. His 1.72 ERA is the lowest on a Padres team that leads the league in bullpen ERA. His 'expected' ERA, 1.75, is the lowest in the sport. He is fulfilling lofty projections — finally, and just in time. Advertisement Days before the trade deadline, the Padres have obvious flaws as they cling to the National League's final wild-card spot. They also have a clear strength that continues to buoy dreams of October. That league-leading bullpen has hoisted San Diego to a 36-24 record in one- or two-run games. Only one team, the San Francisco Giants, has played more of those games. No other bullpen features multiple All-Star setup men. 'It's very, very challenging to make an All-Star team in that role,' Padres manager Mike Shildt said. That's how effective Morejon and Jason Adam have been. That's how effective Morejon and Adam have been. Neither is San Diego's closer, a job that belongs to major-league saves leader Robert Suarez. The Padres this month sent all three pitchers back to Atlanta's Truist Park, marking the first time one team has had so many All-Star relievers. Jeremiah Estrada remains another standout; Shildt calls his high-leverage collection the 'Four Horsemen.' WE KNOW THAT'S RIGHT — San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 11, 2025 Morejon, like Adam, became a revelation after adjusting his arm action. In late 2023, near the end of another injury-marred season, Niebla discovered what might have ailed Morejon for years. Biomechanical assessments revealed that the lefty's arm slot, having moved higher over the previous few seasons, was no longer working in harmony with the rest of his body. Niebla had Morejon lower it back to where it was in 2020. Then, in 2024, Morejon made 60 appearances, more than double his previous career high at any level. He recorded a 2.83 ERA. He relegated his four-seam fastball in favor of his sinker. The latter pitch averaged 97.4 mph, another career high. The lowered arm slot was the impetus behind all of it. 'It helped his rotational planes match what the slot is doing,' Niebla said. 'That, in essence, turned into better command, more velo and being able to be healthy more consistently or available more consistently.' Advertisement This year, Morejon continues to resemble the rare talent he was as a teenager. But a once-injury-prone starting-pitching prospect has developed into one of the most reliable late-game weapons in baseball. He has embraced the role, which is more comprehensive than it sounds. Morejon, just this season, has pitched everywhere from the fourth inning to the 10th. He has worked more than three outs 11 times. The volume of his usage is paired with striking efficiency: His per-inning average of 13.67 pitches ranks fourth among qualifying relievers. 'The mindset is matching the stuff now. Where, I feel in the past, it was just a little bit of — I don't want to say immaturity, but he was also young,' said Padres bullpen coach Ben Fritz, who managed Morejon in short-season ball in 2017. 'I just think that the maturation process from him has been elite. We saw it last year, and he's taken another step this year again.' Niebla said Morejon, now on his own, can detect small variances in his arm angle and make in-game adjustments. The left-hander used to throw more of a sweeping slider; he now deploys a harder, tighter variation to complement what veteran catcher Martín Maldonado calls a 'bowling ball' of a sinker. And two months ago, the Padres felt Morejon was ready to introduce an addition to his repertoire. He used to throw a knuckle changeup, an outlier pitch that was occasionally devastating. But he had thrown it less and less often; for years, Morejon struggled to harness its unpredictable movement. So, early this season, Niebla and Fritz suggested a modified grip. A post shared by MLB on FOX (@mlbonfox) The birth of Morejon's kick-change ensued. Niebla calls it a 'half-knuckle change.' Fritz says it 'showed up immediately with good movement. And he threw it naturally. He didn't have to try to manipulate the ball.' The coaches had Morejon get accustomed to throwing the pitch in catch play, then in pre-appearance warmups in the bullpen. Finally, on a May evening in Atlanta, Morejon debuted his new changeup against Acuña. The pitch's subsequent strikeout victims have included Ketel Marte, a three-time All-Star, and Mookie Betts, another former league MVP. Advertisement 'It is a good pitch. It pairs well,' Fritz said. 'I think you look at his arsenal and what he's typically doing to you — it's still a little bit of an element of surprise because he's thrown (only 27 knuckle-changes). … Any pitch that's overexposed is not going to be as well performing. But it does have a good profile, and we expect that the pitch should play well for him moving forward, even if the usage goes up.' It's the kind of pitch that projects to play into October. And it's another reason the Padres can dream of returning to that stage. 'In the first couple months, Ruben, Fritz and I were in the bullpen trying to figure it out, looking at all the numbers, seeing how well it would work,' Morejon said. 'We just messed with a couple things, but finally, it came out well in the way that it is now.' Some things, he knows, are worth the wait.
Forbes
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Dave Roberts, MLB Ruined An Otherwise Lovely Baseball All-Star Game Weekend
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 15: Manager Dave Roberts #30 of the Los Angeles Dodgers removes Adrian ... More Morejon #50 of the San Diego Padres from the game during the seventh inning of the MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park on July 15, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) If you ignore the asterisk, everything regarding the 2025 All-Star Weekend – including Tuesday's game at Truist Park in Atlanta -- was splendid for the city, the county, the state, the participants, the game of baseball and the lovers of fairytales. I'll tease to the asterisk. I mean, really? With those restrictive voting laws still alive and well in Georgia, there is no way Atlanta should have hosted baseball's Mid-Summer Classic this year, not unless you ignore how Major League officials spent the last few days displaying a convenient dose of amnesia wrapped in hypocrisy. But let's stay warm and fuzzy for now since baseball just completed a mostly successful All-Star Weekend. It culminated with the packed house of 41,702 in the National League home of the Braves enjoying the first-ever 'swing off'' for an All-Star Game when the score was tied 6-6 after nine innings. Each side had three hitters during the grand finale, and each of those hitters had three outs. The winner? Whoever ended with the most home runs. Kyle Schwarber won it for the Nationals with three of their four blasts to edge the Americans by one. That was thrilling, but no more than what occurred for those watching after the bottom of the sixth inning. Courtesy of a high-tech tribute to Braves legend Hank Aaron and his record-breaking 715th home run, MLB and the team challenged the world record for producing goosebumps. Baseball: Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron in action vs Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Stadium after ... More hitting his 715th career homerun (to eclipse Babe Ruth's record) Atlanta, GA 4/8/1974CREDIT: Neil Leifer (Photo by Neil Leifer /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)(Set Number: X18547 TK4 R1 F12 ) Baseball's technical folks put three-dimensional images on the Truist Park field of the Los Angeles Dodgers players at their positions from that night of April 8, 1974 at old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. Then, after a firework showed the path of Aaron's shot from home plate to left-center field, digital markings gave Aaron's exact route around the bases to become better than Babe Ruth in career homers. There also were those other moments I mentioned. For the city, the county and the state: Money. According to the four days of All-Star festivities (HBCU Swingman Classic, Futures Game, Celebrity Softball Game, Major League Baseball Draft, Home Run Derby and All-Star Game) will have an economic impact of $50 millions locally and $100 million throughout the state. For the participants: Joy. 'First, this is the best event of the summer,' said New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor in his fifth All-Star Game. 'I'm in there asking questions. Even though I'm one of the oldest players in the National League clubhouse, I feel like I'm a kid at heart. I'm still trying to learn. You get to talk to players that you don't normally talk to. You can put your guard down, and it's not about beating those guys.' It's about handling the other league, and before Tuesday night, the NL All-Stars only had done that once since 2013. Worse, before the NL All-Stars' three-game winning streak through 2012, they were winless against the AL for 13 straight seasons. ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 15: Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets hits a three-run home run against ... More the American League during the sixth inning of the MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park on July 15, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by) This was different for the NL All-Stars (barely). They scored twice in the first inning, and they threatened to seal the deal in the sixth. They had a 6-0 lead after Pete Alonso's three-run homer and a solo shot by Corbin Carroll, but the Americans pulled to within 6-4 after four runs in the seventh, and then it was 6-6 in the ninth to make the Fox Sports folks happy regarding TV ratings. For the game of baseball: Redemption. Those who run the sport discovered tradition isn't that bad for a game hugged by fans for its (ahem) tradition. So, MLB officials ended six years of misery for all those with eyes by allowing players to wear their own uniforms this time instead of special All-Star jerseys, which basically were boring All-Star jerseys. For the lovers of fairy tales: Cal and The Hammer. You had Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh capturing Monday night's Home Run Derby, with his father, Todd, throwing the pitches, and with his 15-year-old brother, Todd Jr., catching. Then you had that moving Aaron tribute, which ended with fireworks exploding and the ballpark's big screen showing Aaron's widow Billye standing in a suite and waving to the crowd. We're back to that asterisk, though. Just four years ago, nearly everybody in the game – ranging from commissioner Rob Manfred to defending world championship manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers – blasted this part of Dixie after Georgia's state legislature passed a restrictive voting-rights law that critics said targeted Black communities. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred did the right thing by yanking the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta after he said it was 'the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport." Before Manfred's remark, Roberts, who was slated to manage the National League back then in Atlanta, said he might boycott the game. 'I will certainly consider it," Roberts said during the spring of 2021. "I don't know enough about it right now. But when you're restricting, trying to restrict American votes, American citizens, that's alarming to me to hear it. As we get to that point and we know more, I will make a better decision. But I do think that if it gets to that point, it will certainly be a decision I have to make personally.' Hmmmmmm. ATLANTA, GA - JULY 14: Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates talks to media during the All-Star ... More Press Conference at Coca-Cola Roxy on Monday, July 14, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) According to a study in October by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, those voting laws passed in 2021 by Georgia's state legislature continues to have 'a larger impact on Black voters than white voters.' Still, Manfred announced during an owners' meeting in 2023 that Atlanta would get its third All-Star Game in 2025, and he hasn't uttered a public word about those same Georgia voting laws since he first blasted them. As for Roberts, he was on stage Monday as part of an MLB press conference hosted by ESPN personality Pat McAfee. Even though they didn't have a problem hearing other questions during the session, they both said they didn't understand what a reporter was asking when she wished to know why Roberts wasn't taking as firm of a stance against an All-Star Game in Atlanta as he did four years ago. Same law, same situation, she said. She repeated the question. Roberts and McAfee said again they didn't understand what she was asking, but after McAfee declared it was inappropriate, he suggested questions should be more baseball focused or something. Nevertheless, Roberts decided to answer. Sort of. 'I do feel that I'm excited to be here,' Roberts said. "It's a great city. Baseball fans are excited to be here and celebrate these great athletes. I'm not a politician. I do feel that everyone has their right to voice thoughts, but right now I choose to focus on the players and the game.' Uh huh.
Washington Post
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Padres' All-Star-laden bullpen is lights out in a 4-2 win over NL East-leading Phillies
SAN DIEGO — All-Star reliever Jason Adam got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and San Diego's bullpen threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings as the Padres beat the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 on Friday night. Adrian Morejon, added to the National League All-Star team earlier in the day, threw a perfect seventh and fellow All-Star Robert Suarez a perfect ninth for his big league-leading 28th save. The Padres are the first team to have three relievers selected to the All-Star Game in the same season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Reuters
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Padres LHP Adrian Morejon to replace Phillies' Zack Wheeler at All-Star Game
July 11 - San Diego Padres left-hander Adrian Morejon was named to the National League All-Star team on Friday, replacing Phillies right-handed pitcher and Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler. Morejon, 26, will be participating in his first All-Star Game in his seventh season in the league. He is 7-3 with a 1.71 ERA with 0.83 WHIP in 45 relief appearances this season. He's allowed just nine walks across 42 innings and thrown 39 strikeouts. Morejon is the fifth Padres player to be named to this year's All-Star team, marking the second straight year the Padres have sent five players to the midsummer classic. Joining Morejon from the Padres are Manny Machado, who will start at third base for the NL, Fernando Tatis Jr. coming off the bench, and closer Robert Suarez and setup man Jason Adam in the bullpen. The All-Star Game will be held Tuesday in Atlanta, Wheeler's hometown. Much discussion had been made in recent weeks as to whether Wheeler or Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes would earn the starting spot on game day. However, Wheeler reportedly withdrew to focus on the second half of the season rather than take part in his third All-Star Game. Wheeler, 35, is 9-3 with a 2.17 ERA in 18 starts. He leads the National League with 148 strikeouts, and his ERA is only second-best behind Skenes (1.94 ERA) among pitchers who have thrown more than 100 innings. --Field Level Media
Al Arabiya
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Pivetta Strikes Out 10 in 7 Brilliant Innings as the Padres Beat the Nationals 1-0
Nick Pivetta shut down Washington through seven brilliant innings, matching his season high with 10 strikeouts, and the San Diego Padres beat the Nationals 1–0 on Wednesday to take two of three in the series. Pivetta (8–2) allowed just three baserunners, all on singles, and none reached scoring position. Pivetta picked off Daylen Lile after he hit a leadoff single in the third. Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon each pitched a perfect inning, with Morejon getting his second save. For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Luis Arraez, batting leadoff for just the second time this season, had three singles and drove in the game's only run. The three-time batting champion singled to center off former Padres left-hander MacKenzie Gore (3–8) with two outs in the second to bring in Tyler Wade. Elias Díaz tried to score from second but was thrown out by center fielder Jacob Young. The second was the only bad inning for Gore, who was one of six players sent to Washington in the blockbuster trade that brought Juan Soto to San Diego on August 2, 2022. He opened the inning with consecutive strikeouts before walking Wade and allowing singles to Díaz and Arraez. Gore was the third pick overall in the 2017 amateur draft. He allowed one run and five hits in six innings, struck out six, and walked three. Key moment: Morejon got the save opportunity after closer Robert Suarez began serving his reduced two-game suspension for hitting Shohei Ohtani with a pitch at Dodger Stadium last Thursday night. Key stat: It was the first time Pivetta struck out 10 or more while allowing three or fewer hits, no runs, and no walks. Up next: Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (6–3, 4.18 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at the Los Angeles Angels. Padres RHP Dylan Cease (3–6, 4.43) is expected to start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati.
