The Padres are heading into Wednesday with their season on the line, and for once the bullpen picture looks a little cleaner.
San Diego beat Milwaukee on Tuesday to avoid elimination and grab its first win of the National League Division Series. Now the task is to do it again and force the series even, with a few more relief options potentially in play behind Walker Buehler.
The biggest boost is Mason Miller. The All-Star closer was placed on the paternity list less than an hour before Game 3 on Tuesday, but he has now been returned from that list and is available for Game 4. It would be a shock if he doesn’t appear Wednesday night.
“Everything went well so far with him and his wife,” manager Craig Stammen said.
Miller’s last outing came in Game 2 on Sunday, when he gave up the save on his 40th pitch while working a second inning of relief.
Michael King is another name San Diego may lean on again, even after a heavy workload. He threw 72 pitches on Sunday, then came back Tuesday and handled the final six outs after Adrian Morejon was unavailable and the bullpen needed coverage. King has already logged 14 postseason innings after making 32 starts and throwing 185 innings in the regular season.
He opened the postseason with seven shutout innings in wild-card Game 1 last Tuesday, then followed with five innings on Sunday and two more on Tuesday.
“We're at that point in the season where it's everybody, whatever they can give us, we're going to use,” Stammen said. “There is no tomorrow if we don't win tonight.”
Morejon remains the one real question mark. Stammen said the left-hander is dealing with what he called “stickiness” in his shoulder, and the team won’t know his status until closer to game time.
“Waiting for him to come in and see how he’s feeling, but he was feeling a little bit better postgame last night,” Stammen said. “So hopefully, we’re hopeful today that he’ll be available.”
He also laid out the process the club will use to make the call.
“Same way we do throughout the regular season,” Stammen said. “Bring him in, trainers check him out, go out and play catch, see how he feels, if he wants to throw off the mound or not. Reevaluate what that looks like, how he feels, talk with him one-on-one, talk to the group and then decide what our pitching plan is for the game.”
Buehler gets the ball for Wednesday night in his 2026 postseason debut, and Stammen said the club is expecting him to look like the pitcher they’ve seen in October before.
“Expecting playoff Walker Buehler,” Stammen said. “He's a very successful pitcher in the playoffs.”
Outside of Morejon, the Padres should have the rest of their bullpen available behind Buehler. Right-hander Nick Pivetta is the exception after throwing 4.1 innings on Tuesday.
So the setup is simple: Miller is back, King is probably in the mix again, and Morejon will be monitored right up until the game. The answer on him may not come until he gets loose and the Padres see whether he can take the ball.
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