The Padres have already secured their postseason spot, but the real challenge now is making sure the bullpen that carried them there doesn’t arrive empty-handed.
That’s where Jason Adam comes in.
His return matters more than a routine late-September activation because San Diego has leaned hard on Adrián Morejón, Mason Miller and Bradgley Rodríguez for months. Those three have been asked to cover short starts, protect tight leads and soak up leverage innings almost every night. The workload is piling up fast, and the warning signs have already shown up.
Rodríguez offered the clearest one. Earlier in September, his four-seam fastball and sinker were down roughly two mph across two outings, which led the Padres to give him four straight days off.
When he came back, he was again sitting close to 100 mph. In other words, the issue wasn’t anything more complicated than fatigue.
Morejón’s usage is even harder to ignore. By Sept. 24, he had logged 85 innings in 75 appearances, blowing past his previous career high. Miller wasn’t far behind in his own way, already at 69 innings, which was four more than his prior best.
Adam gives manager Craig Stammen something practical. Before a shoulder strain kept him out for nearly three months, the right-hander had posted a 2.51 ERA in 36 appearances.
He can take the sixth if a starter exits early. He can handle the seventh when Morejón has been used heavily.
He can connect a close game to Miller and let Rodríguez actually sit for a night.
The concern, though, is that Adam’s rehab work didn’t exactly scream immediate reliability. In his final two Triple-A El Paso appearances, he allowed nine runs while recording one out, and his strikeout rate had already dipped before the injury.
Friday night gave a snapshot of where things stand. With the Padres trailing Arizona 10-2 and Adam entering in the seventh, he walked the first two hitters, hit the third and threw just 13 of 27 pitches for strikes. He then got a double play and a flyout, escaped without allowing a hit and still gave up one run.
The command was shaky, but the inning still mattered. Adam faced big-league hitters, worked through traffic and covered three outs without forcing Morejón, Miller or Rodríguez into an 11-4 loss. That’s the point right now: every inning Adam can absorb is another inning one of San Diego’s high-leverage arms doesn’t have to throw.
Adam doesn’t need to return as an instant shutdown setup man. He just needs to give Stammen real innings, lighten the load on the relievers who got the Padres here and help make the bullpen whole again.
In Other News...
Padres Just Made Petcos October Fate Feel Uncomfortably Real
The Padres latest setback in Arizona did more than dent a late-season push, it made the idea of starting the Wild Card Series at Petco Park feel a lot less secure. In an 11-4 loss to the Diamondbacks, San Diego got the kind of reminder that October positioning can turn on a single rough night, especially when the margins are this tight and every game carries extra weight.
Casey Mize had a difficult outing on the mound, giving up seven runs in four innings, and now the focus shifts quickly to what comes next. Walker Buehler is lined up for the Padres next game, with San Diego still trying to lock down home-field advantage for what could become a decisive Wild Card matchup, even if the path to get there suddenly looks a little more precarious. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Face A Fascinating Ethan Salas Decision Before October
The Padres are already into October, but the roster math is still very much alive. With a postseason berth secured, the club now has to sort through a playoff setup that could include three catchers, a possibility built around rookie Ethan Salas alongside Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermin.
Salas has made a real imprint in his first month, helping in the clinching win and even setting a record as the youngest catcher with a multi-homer game. Still, San Diego has not announced its official Wild Card Series roster, which means the three-catcher idea remains only a projection for now, and one of the more interesting decisions in front of the front office is whether there is room to keep all three on the October list. [Read more 🡒]
Padres May Have A Real Answer To Their Looming Rotation Problem
The Padres have plenty to monitor over the next year, but one of the bigger long-range questions is how they plan to keep their rotation stocked once the 2026 season is in the books. Bleacher Reports Zach Buckley recently floated a possible answer in Freddy Peralta, the right-hander who has been turning heads with the Tampa Bay Rays and could be positioned for a multi-year payday in the 2026-2027 offseason.
For San Diego, the fit is easy to understand. Pitching depth has a way of disappearing quickly, and a proven starter like Peralta would give the club a way to address a looming need before it becomes a crisis. It is still a speculative idea, built on contract timing and current performance, but it is the kind of name that makes sense when the Padres start looking ahead to how their rotation could hold up beyond 2026. [Read more 🡒]