Looking back at Padres’ biggest surprise of 2025

The San Diego Padres were a good enough team to make the postseason in 2025; however, it never felt that they were good enough to win the World Series. The lineup lacked power, and the starting pitching had a poor season compared to 2024 and years past under pitching coach Ruben Niebla.

Ruben Niebla will return in 2026 to be the pitching coach under new manager Craig Stammen. Niebla is considered a secret weapon for the Padres with his genius pitching tactics, resulting in many pitchers finding success. Niebla came to San Diego from the Cleveland Guardians. Since his arrival, there has been one player whom he has developed the most, Adrian Morejon.

Adrian Morejon is quickly turning into one of the league’s best relievers, especially as a southpaw. The former starting pitcher did not see much success in years past but has found a new role as one of the setup options for the Friars. He had a great year in 2024 and improved last season. In 2025, Morejon dominated all season long and earned his first All-Star nod. Morejon was second in total games played with SD with 75 and ended with a 2.08 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 2.4 WAR, .186 OBA, .471 OOPS, 8.6 K/9, and 70 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. The lefty walked only 17 hitters all season long and came up clutch with 13 wins, 20 holds, and three saves. Morejon did not allow a run in 4.1 postseason innings.

I’m not someone who cares about wins for pitchers, BUT it is pretty interesting that Padres reliever Adrian Morejon had the most wins for a reliever in a single season this year (13) since Ryan Yarbrough (TBR) in 2018pic.twitter.com/AWiNvUy5b1

— Hagen Snell (@HagenSnellBB) December 10, 2025

There is no doubt that the Padres knew that Morejon would be a big part of the team in 2025. I don’t think one player predicted that Morejon would be the biggest surprise of the season. Morejon has entered a new realm of relievers considered game-changing. The Padres contain another in Mason Miller. A constant goal for this team is to contain an elite bullpen, and the Padres will once again have a very good bullpen in 2026.

Adrian Morejon Ranks among LH RP this season:

1.8 fWAR, 1st among LH RP
1.88 FIP, 1st among LH RP
2.70 xFIP, 2nd among LH RP
1.63 ERA, 2nd among LH RP
120 Stuff+, T-3rd among LH RP

He has a very real argument for being the best left handed RP in baseball pic.twitter.com/wMcxEYzqI1

— Clark Fahrenthold (@CFahrenthold11) July 30, 2025

Baseball is all about numbers. When you look at the statistics, you can notice patterns with certain players. With Morejon, you can very clearly see that hitters struggled all season long trying to attack the southpaw. He ranked first in many pitching statistics among lefties and was top five in almost all of them. He led the league in wins out of the bullpen and proved to be a consistent relief option each and every night.

The Padres may need to rely on their dominant bullpen again in 2026. Michael King resigned with San Diego, and Nick Pivetta is coming off a dominant season. You can make an argument that Pivetta was the biggest surprise of the 2025 season; however, with his experience, it was not shocking to see him perform at a high level under Niebla’s coaching. With King, Pivetta, and Joe Musgrove back, the Padres have three solid right-handed options. Dylan Cease is gone, and Yu Darvish will miss the entire season. The team lacks depth in the rotation.

Morejon has a history as a starting pitcher and in the long-relief role. There is a chance that Morejon could become an X-factor for the Friars by having a role that allows him to pitch in any inning. If the Padres need him in the 5th inning, he can give you two solid innings to keep the score close. Morejon can close a game if needed and pitch in his new dominant role as a setup man to Mason Miller.

Morejon still does not get enough credit in Major League Baseball. Another dominant season should put him in the conversation as one of the best pitchers in baseball.

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