Adrian Morejon: Everything you need to know

Morejon earned the save in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Rockies, striking out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning. Although Mason Miller and the Padres had an off-day Monday, manager Craig Stammen opted to go with Morejon to close things out for Tuesday's low-scoring contest. That was likely due to Edouard Julien and Mickey Moniak -- both left-handed batters -- being the first two up to the plate in the frame, and the southpaw Morejon ended up striking out both before getting Hunter Goodman to fly out to center field. Morejon has not yielded a run or hit in each of his last four outings, striking out seven batters while issuing just one walk over that five-inning span. It's been a nice turnaround from how he opened the season with a 10.80 ERA and 2.40 WHIP over 6.2 innings.

Morejon secured a hold Thursday, working 1.2 perfect innings with two strikeouts in a 5-2 win over the Mariners. Morejon has had a bumpy start to the season after his All-Star campaign in 2025, when he pitched in 75 games and had career-best marks in ERA (2.08) and WHIP (0.90). The southpaw came into the season as the set-up guy for dominant closer Mason Miller and has three holds in eight appearances so far, but Morejon allowed at least one run in four of his first six outings. San Diego seems to still have faith in him, however, given he's been used in high-leverage situations each of his past two games.

The Padres and Morejon avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.9 million contract Thursday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. It was the final year of arbitration eligibility for Morejon, who is slated to become a free agent next offseason. The left-hander has posted a 2.42 ERA and 141:38 K:BB over 137.1 regular-season innings as a full-time reliever since the start of the 2024 campaign. He'll again serve in a high-leverage role in 2026.