The San Diego Padres are coming off their first series loss since the first week of the season as they dropped the final two games against the Chicago Cubs. Now, the Padres will aim to bounce back after that tough series as they take on the Chicago White Sox.
Against the Cubs, the Padres bullpen struggled, taking losses in both games. Entering the season, San Diego was ranked by Fangraphs as the best bullpen in baseball; however, that has not been the case so far this season. Fortunately, the Padres announced the return of an injured member of the bullpen ahead of the series against the White Sox.
San Diego Padres Announce Roster Move
Ahead of Friday’s matchup against the White Sox, the San Diego Padres posted on X: “We have reinstated RHP Jeremiah Estrada from the 15-day IL and optioned RHP David Morgan to Triple-A El Paso.”
Earlier this season, Estrada had been one of the members of the Padres bullpen that had struggled as he posted a 5.14 ERA in seven innings, while having the lowest strikeout rate of his career. After his fastball saw an alarming decrease in velocity, Estrada was placed on the injured list. He then made two minor league appearances, in which he did not allow a run, before returning to the Padres.
Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune shared encouraging news regarding Estrada as he noted the Padres reliever had touched 98 mph during one of his rehab outings.
Prior to going on the injured list, Estrada had said he did not know the reason for his dip in velocity. He said, “I have no idea. I’m probably the strongest I’ve ever been.”
Struggling Padres Bullpen
Estrada is not the only member of the Padres bullpen who has struggled. All-Star reliever Adrián Morejón has posted a 5.64 ERA; however, he may be a victim of poor batted-ball luck as his 2.76 FIP indicates that he should be getting better results.
Morgan, who was optioned to El Paso in the previously mentioned move, had a 6.08 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched as he struggled with command, walking 16% of the batters he faced.
Veteran Wandy Peralta has also struggled as he has posted a 4.05 ERA in his 13.1 innings.
Prior to the season, when Fangraphs wrote about the strength of the Padres bullpen, they said, “Behind Miller is a deep, talented group of players who would be setup men or closers on lots of teams. Splitter monster Jeremiah Estrada hasn’t been far behind Miller in terms of K/9 (13.57, the fourth-best mark league-wide) since he broke out two seasons ago. Adrian Morejon is among the hardest-throwing relief lefties in all of baseball, with a 97-mph fastball and a 94-mph cutter. He tied for fourth in WAR among all relievers in 2025, higher even than Miller.
Fellow southpaw Wandy Peralta generated a 59.7% groundball rate last season, but he might be Craig Stammen’s third-best option against lefties because Jason Adam’s changeup has helped him hold them to a .166 average during his career. David Morgan, undrafted out of an NAIA school (Hope International), has upper-90s velo and a great curveball, and could join this group in stature by the end of his sophomore season. Despite losing closer Robert Suarez to the Braves in free agency, this group shouldn’t miss a beat.”
Despite those metrics, the results have simply not been where the Padres would have hoped.
Regarding the current state of the Chicago White Sox, Jeff Sanders wrote:
“The White Sox have won three in a row and seven of their last 10 games to move to within 1½ games of the Tigers in the division. Former Padres OF Will Venable is in his second year managing the White Sox after losing 102 games last year. The Padres took two of three in Chicago last year against the White Sox.”
Padres Announce Return of Injured Pitcher Before White Sox Series