Padres right-hander Jason Adam has been targeting the Opening Day roster as he finished off his rehab from last year’s torn tendon in his quadriceps. The right-hander said three weeks back that team doctors hadn’t told him “no” on the possibility yet, and Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Adam could get back into games soon. He’s been ahead of schedule in camp and is slated for one final simulated game this week before a likely Cactus League debut on the weekend.
The 34-year-old Adam is a major piece of a deep San Diego bullpen. Over the past four seasons, he’s worked to a 2.07 ERA with 92 holds, 24 saves, a 29.2% strikeout rate and an 8.4% walk rate across 256 2/3 innings between the Rays and Padres. If healthy, he’d join Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada as one of closer Mason Miller‘s top setup options.
A healthy Adam also leads to a relatively crowded bullpen that could force the Friars into some tough decisions. Miller, Estrada, Morejon and Adam would be locks for bullpen spots. That’s presumably true of righty David Morgan (2.64 ERA, 47 1/3 innings in 2025) as well. Lefties Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui are pitching on multi-year contracts and can’t be optioned.
That group accounts for seven of the Padres’ eight bullpen spots. Right-hander Ron Marinaccio is out of minor league options. Right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez has multiple option years left but has excelled in camp after impressing in a brief look last year. Righty Matt Waldron might start the season on the injured list, but he’s out of minor league options as well and would need to be added to the big league roster or designated for assignment. Bryan Hoeing is shut down with an elbow issue right now.
Having more talented relievers than bullpen spots available is obviously a nice problem to have, all things considered, and depending on the injury timetables of Adam and a couple teammates, the Friars might be able to kick any 40-man decisions down the road a bit for the early portion of the season. At some point, something will have to give on one of the players who can’t be sent down (whether due to contract or lack of minor league options.
That’s especially true if the Padres want to consider breaking camp with any non-roster invitees on the big league club. Veterans Walker Buehler, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie are among that group, but manager Craig Stammen has been talking up the chances of a different former big leaguer for a potential bullpen job: right-hander Logan Gillaspie.
“He just goes out there, competes his tail off, lot of energy and enthusiasm, throws a ton of strikes and gets a lot of outs,” manager Craig Stammen told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell when asked about Gillaspie. He noted that Gillaspie could be used in a multi-inning role, providing some length early in games if necessary.
The 28-year-old Gillaspie has pitched in each of the past four major league seasons, including 18 innings for San Diego across the 2024-25 campaigns. He’s had pedestrian results overall, but Gillaspie is a familiar hand for many Padres coaches and is in the midst of a strong spring training (7 2/3 shutout frames, 8-to-2 K/BB ratio). Cassavell suggests that Gillaspie is viewed as having a real chance to make the club, particularly if the Padres open the season with multiple veterans on the injured list.
I keep overlooking Gillaspie. Good problems to have, but I’d be amazed if there’s not a trade or two before the end of camp if both Matsui and Adam are trending for OD.
I didn’t watch a whole lot of games last year, for various reasons, so I didn’t see Peralta or Matsui pitch much. However, every time I did, they seem to cost the Padres a game. Their metrics are good, and so is their reputation, so that’s probably an unfair bias. (And I’m not even sure about their salaries.) That said, I’d like the Pads to keep the younger guys and move these two for some decent return (probably to boost the farm system for future turns).
Matsui’s contract is underwater for sure. He just hasn’t been that good. Peralta was bad in 2024 but solid in 2025. He’d definitely fetch some return, but IIRC he’s got an opt-out this year which makes his contract less enticing (I really don’t expect him to opt-out, but you never know). However, the big problem is Padres don’t have any internal lefty arms to slot in the BP next year (AFAIK) if Morejon walks (and he’s going to be paid handsomely, I expect his team will be using Scott’s deal as a basis).
Barring something weird I expect both Matsui and Peralta back in the pen next year.
Neither of them gave up a run in September. Both had better than average ERA and Peralta’s was outright good at 3.14
ERA undersells Matsui. Almost all his peripherals took a step back in 25. I will say the availability is nice and the guarantee isn’t onerous, so he can keep doing his thing in low-leverage.
How do you undersell 0.00 ERA? Early in the season Matsui walked too many and then gave up a few too many HR’s after he had guys on base. The 2nd half was a different story and in September he was lights out.
He had a 66 OPS+ against with RISP and in high leverage situations he had an 83 OPS+ against. In LOW leverage situations he had a 110 OPS+ against and with no one on base he had a 119 OPS+ against. Matsui was a closer in Japan. He needs the adrenaline to pitch well, and in those situations, he came through big time.
Because it’s ~9 innings. His high leverage stats are in <5 IP! He's got a 10% K-BB% and as a flyball pitcher; that's a tough sell even with his skill at avoiding barrels.
He did have success in the second half but he was walking more on a rate basis than in the first. I don't recall seeing/hearing any mechanical/repetoire/approach changes, so I'm chalking that up to noise, but feel free to correct me. I have nothing against Matsui personally, he's just the weak link in a very good BP and even then he's perfectly playable in his role.
Padre fans have grown to become proud of our bullpens over the years. From Goose to Fingers, to Hoffman, Huston, Heath, Hand, Hader, Davis, Yates, Suarez and now Morejon, Adam, Estrada and Miller. Some HOFers. We may not ever win a WS, but it seems every year, we got pen.
I’m glad someone remembers Mark Davis. That dude was lights-out back in the day!
He won the Cy Young out of the pen in 89
Until he signed a big contract with KC the year after CY.
He pulled a Tanner Scott
Adam, Morejon and Estrada are all exceptional. Morgan is also coming back. Excellent pen.
And then there is that Miller guy that throws 104.
Craig Lefferts and Baby Goose, Lance McCullers we’re always fun to watch in the 80’s.
I’m fine with Wandy Peralta still being there. No matter how good your pen is, you still need garbage time pitchers.
3.14 ERA for the season and 0.00 ERA the last month of the season. Peralta was very, very good last year.
Wandy wasn’t what we hoped in 2024, but he really turned it around last year and was exceptional, and not just in garbage time.
His ERA was fine, but if you left runners on, he made sure they scored.
For RP with 50+ IP he was exactly average in IS% with 16 of 49 inherited runners scoring.
Gotta trade a bat for a SP.
Why?
Pivetta, King, Musgrove, Vasquez are locked in. 3 of those are TOR starters.
Then you have 10 guys with MLB experience – Marquez, Canning, Sears, Hart, Buehler, Gillaspie, Gonzalez, McKenzie, Waldron, and Cruz competing for the 5th slot. When you have that many MLB players fighting for one spot in the rotation including several that have proven they were very, very good in the majors, that is an incredibly good place to be in.
From his velocity and the movement on his pitches this early in spring my money in on Marquez for the 5th slot. When he comes back Canning will have to be fit into that rotation. We saw how good he could be once he got out of the Angels system.
Canning is working his way back from an injury last season and won’t be back until late-April or early-May and Waldron will be held on IL as long as possible to start the season. The rest are in the running for OD.
McKenzie the Padres will try to move to AAA through waivers because while he is throwing harder than he ever has before, he still has little command.
Buehler has gotten back to the mechanics he had back in 2018-2021, he just has not regained velocity. In his backfields start and his stadium start he has been sitting 92-93. If his velocity ticks up or he figures out how to be a pitcher instead of a thrower he could still be a valuable piece. I think that he would be claimed pretty fast if he is put on waivers.
Sears and Hart have an option left so they will go to El Paso to start the season. Cruz has 2 options left so he is El Paso bound as well.
With 2 of the top 3 returning from injuries, the Padres may keep Gillaspie, Buehler, or Gonzalez as a long reliever to start the season.
Rodriguez is going to be very good.
He is extremely good and unless a trade is coming, he probably starts the season as a Chihuahua. That is how deep the pen is.
Yeah, he has nothing to prove in minors anymore, but I have to wonder if that’s where he’ll be sent again if team decides they need long-reliever spot instead.
Yah best to play the depth game right now with him, Padres lose a couple good arms to FA next season and there’s always injuries.
Yep, but keeping older arms versus developing Rodriguez at the MLB level? Rookies and Sophomore MLB players stubble 95% more times than they take off like a rocket. Get the stumbles over in ’26 while he’s also providing quality at the front end of the bullpen, seems like a better idea that running his innings in AAA for an extra year.
Let him bake to perfection on the farm. He can be recalled at any point so “break glass in case of emergency” for ’26.
“Break Bradgley in Case of Emergency” works for me, and I’m sure the Bradg-Rod is eyeing all the vacancies to come next year in the pen.
Barring something miraculous/abnormal, you’ll see BRod in SD this year. He’s only 22, so he’s got plenty of time and looked ready last year in a limited role. It sucks to not put the best foot forward, but worth protecting depth in BP and 40-man flexibility given injury variance.
Gillaspie looked good in his latest outing. I would not be surprised to see him make the squad as a long reliever. Having a pitcher that can eat innings out of the pen is especially important early in the season. I think someone would pick him up if the Padres try to move him through waivers.
McKenzie and Gonzalez won’t make the squad, but McKenzie is a long-term play anyway. He was told coming into this that he would probably not make the squad, and I highly doubt that anyone would claim him if he is DFA’d.
Adam is looking really good in PFP and in backfields games. With the incredible depth the Padres have, unfortunately Rodriguez is the odd man out because he has options. That doesn’t mean he would be in the minors long. Marinaccio could also be one that is an odd man out if the Padres choose to keep a long reliever spot for one of the starting pitching options.
The Padres are probably going to lose someone out of the incredible list of NRI pitchers and guys with no options. Just too many really good options. What a great position to be in.
I have to wonder if AJ tried to package a RP or two into a trade for SP help over winter, but a worthy deal didn’t present itself. Bradg-Rod would be a reasonable replacement for Estrada for example.
It’s a long way to opening day so they trade is likely on the burner.
I’m as “win now” as any other … ahh … “elderly” Padres fan, but I’d rather see Preller try to find another young “diamond” to beef up in farm system. Long term, the Pads need that more than they need anything else right now. Even though decisions are still being made, I think Preller already has the 2026 holes plugged, and better plugged than last year for certain.
if ever there was a time for AJ to trade for young upstarts (maybe a SP who could be ready by 2027/28), it's from this incredibly deep RP group. Then again, might want to wait until trade deadline when RPs are in greater demand before doing that.
You’re right, Brew. Trades in Spring Training, unless maybe it’s come sort of huge multi-player, multi-team AJP style deal, that yields minor leaguers as a side return, are to support the 2026 roster. Trades at the trade deadline bring more back, and CAN be used to restock the farm. It’s just that Preller has rarely done that, unless you count trades like last year’s trade with the A’s, which brought back multi-year returns. It’s always been an off-season thing, trading for the farm. Lol, face it, we’ll never be able to predict what Preller will do.
I am with you. It never hurts to keep your powder dry until you need to use it that bullpen depth can be very valuable as the season progresses
McKenzie is on a minor league contract, so no need to DFA. He might have an opt out though.
If you can trade some pen depth for a young cost controlled starter it might be a worthwhile endeavor
I think Logan will make the O/D roster as the swingman/ Hoeing replacement, with Buehler getting first crack at #5. But could easily see Logan as our #5 soon if he stays healthy
yesterday Stammen spoke very glowingly about Hart also being that swing man/long-reliever, stating he’s pitching as well as he has since signed.
Stammen also talked about Buehler potentially playing in that role (if he agrees to it and Marquez wins the #5 in rotation). Seems like one of those three are going to make the roster as long-relievers/#6 in rotation type role. My guess is that if Buehler doesn’t make rotation, then he’ll opt out and be given opportunities with another team so it will come down to Hart of Gillaspe until Canning enters the fray. But having Stammen say publicly that Buehler might accept a long-reliever role could signify he’s entertaining it.
Buehler’s velocity was once again an issue today and pitching against what is likely the Angels opening day lineup he got hit pretty consistently and could not seem to get many swing and misses. Unless he is willing to be a long reliever I don’t believe he has done enough to win a rotation spot. Especially with Marquez throwing as hard as he did at the peak of his career. Buehler said in his first press conference after the signing that he felt he was a starter but was willing to do whatever it took to help the team win, so maybe.
Gillaspie pitched well in his last outing. Another one like that and he may have clinched a spot as a long reliever even if Buehler agrees to pitch in that spot in the bullpen.
Hart has an option, so he probably joins Sears in El Paso.