San Diego Padres left-handed pitcher Adrian Morejon sat in the bullpen in the eighth and ninth innings of Tuesday’s National League Division Series Game 3, watching the game unfold just like everyone else.
While starting pitcher Michael King secured the final six outs — and fellow starters Joe Musgrove and Robbie Ray began to warm up in the bullpen — Morejon didn’t move much.
At one point, the FOX cameras saw him pacing around in the bullpen. At no point, however, did he begin to throw.
Now it’s clear why.
Following Tuesday’s game, in which King secured the six-out save after starting on Sunday, manager Craig Stammen revealed that Morejon was unavailable due to a shoulder issue.
“Adrian [was] not available tonight,” Stammen said. “Still feeling a little stickiness in the shoulder. We’re trying to work through [it]. We’re doing everything we can to get him ready. We’ll see his status about tomorrow.”
Morejon hasn’t pitched since Saturday’s Game 1 of the series, when he took down the final two innings and allowed the go-ahead home run to Brewers catcher William Contreras.
After Sunday’s Game 2, Stammen revealed the left-hander was unavailable. Two days later, he was again not available to pitch.
Stammen said there’s “definitely a chance” Morejon is able to pitch again this series, adding that he threw off the mound on Tuesday. He wouldn’t commit to it, though.
“We’ll see,” the manager said. “We’ve got to evaluate him tomorrow, just like we did today, and try to put him in a safe space to be able to pitch. Don’t want to put him out there if it’s compromised.”
“He’s definitely feeling a little bit better today,” he added, “but just didn’t feel like he could go.”
On top of Morejon being unavailable, the Padres were also without All-Star closer Mason Miller, who was placed on the paternity list before Tuesday’s game after his wife went into labor.
Miller is eligible to return on Wednesday, but it’s unclear if he’ll be back with the team by then.
If not, he would be back for a potential Game 5 on Friday.
Morejon and Miller carried the Padres bullpen all year long, so on Tuesday, they needed to turn to King. Stammen had high praise for his starting pitcher.
“He came in the office today and said, ‘I’m available to pitch. I’m available to pitch the next day and I’m available to pitch Game 5.’ So he’s got an attitude of, ‘I’ll do anything to help the team win,'” Stammen said. “So we felt comfortable getting him in the game today and using him in a very high-leverage spot.”
Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
