Padres lefty Adrian Morejon lives up to early hype
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Lorenzo Delgado, Contributor
- May 2, 2025
Adrian Morejon bolsters Padres bullpen
HOUSTON – Adrian Morejon was regarded as one of the best international pitching prospects by MLB Pipeline as a young amateur. Though, the San Diego Padres’ reliever started his career on a difficult note with multiple injuries hindering his path to the big leagues, the 26-year-old pitcher knew there was still time to live up to early promise.
A key piece to getting to the end was the change in his mentality.
“I feel the biggest change in my career has been the mental aspect,” Morejon said. “Working on my mind, working on myself. I had a lot of injury problems in 2021. That’s something I can’t change, but I matured.
“I’m 26 years old. I’ve come to know my body a whole lot better, so that’s definitely allowed me to stay healthy and be able to contribute.”
Morejon, who was ranked No. 2 on MLB.com’s Top 30 International Prospects List in 2016, signed with the Padres for $11 million. The Cuban southpaw ranked fifth in the Padres’ farm system from 2017-2019. Moreover, Baseball America ranked him No. 52 in their Top 100 Prospects List in 2019. Nonetheless, Morejon struggled to stay healthy.
The Padres’ left-handed reliever made his major league debut on July 21, 2019. Morejon would only pitch eight innings in five games before his season came to an end due to an impingement on his left shoulder.
Slow climb to majors
In 2020, the minor league season was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he still pitched less than 20 innings in the short 60-game season with the Padres. Morejon experienced a gut-wrenching feeling when he left the game with a left forearm strain in the early part of the 2021 season. The 5-foot-11 lefty underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the remainder of the season.
Two more injuries continued to plague him in 2022 and 2023.
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“That’s something I’ve been working on the personal side,” Morejon said on overcoming those obstacles. “It all comes down to just being able to keep myself focused, staying in the present currently. Whether the situation is called in front of me. Whether I go into a game or whatever is going on just stay in the present, and try not to work too much ahead.”
Morejon pitched impressively in 2024. The primary reason is because he stayed healthy throughout the whole season. The native of Havana finished with a 3-2 record, 2.83 ERA, a .204 opponent batting average, and a 10.04 strikeout per nine innings (K/9) in 60 games last season. Furthermore, he had career highs in games (60), innings (63.2), holds (12), and strikeouts (71).
He continues to play a crucial part of the Padres’ bullpen. San Diego ranks first in ERA (1.66), opponent batting average (.183), and saves (13) in the majors. In addition, the Padres are the only team in the National League to have at least three relievers with a sub-1.00 ERA across 10 or more innings. Adrian Morejon is among one of the three relievers.
Versatile reliever
Morejon is 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA, 13 strikeouts, and one save in 15 games. The hard-throwing lefty has issued just one walk to the last 50 batters he’s faced across his last 12 appearances since March 31.
Padres manager Mike Shildt is continuously proactive with the resources he has in his bullpen. Therefore, Shildt has no problem going to Morejon in tough situations because he has proven he can compete with the best on the field.
“I’ve been very impressed by our entire bullpen, but Adrian specifically has also done a very good job,” Shildt said of Morejon. “Came in last year and was asked to go into a bigger role. Now he’s a guy that we can confidently run out in high leverage, regardless he’s closed a game this year for us early in the season.
“The good ones we have with people like Adrian in the bullpen that can grab different roles relative to the total-ness of the availability in the bullpen. Like one day where we just didn’t have anybody who was available to close the game. Adrian closed the game in a tight ballgame. He’s able to pitch in a lot of different situations and be effective.”
Lorenzo Delgado
Contributor
Lorenzo Delgado graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and is currently attending the University of Houston to earn his master’s degree. Lorenzo was formerly a contributing baseball writer for Call to the Pen on the Fansided Network. He is the host of an Astros baseball podcast called Full Seam Ahead, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever podcasts are found.
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