This season, the San Diego Padres had five players go to the MLB All-Star Game. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Robert Suarez all got the invite to the Midsummer Classic.
The Padres became the first team in MLB history to send three relievers to the All-Star Game, as both Morejon and Adam had career seasons leading up to that point.
As of Thursday, Suarez was second in saves (39) and only one behind Kansas City Royals closer Carlos Estevez.
Adam is out for the season after suffering a brutal ruptured quad.
Morejon, the former starter, made the switch to the bullpen and has blossomed since 2024.
Last season, he went 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA in 60 appearances, and so far this year, Morejon has a 12-5 record with a 2.11 ERA in 70 outings.
On Wednesday night against the New York Mets, Morejon threw 1.1 innings of shutout baseball to notch his 12th win and make Padres history in the process.
Per Padres radio host Sammy Levitt, Morejon passed Rollie Fingers and Butch Metzger for the most wins by a reliever in team history.
Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) on X
With his 12th win tonight, Adrian Morejon now has the most wins by a Padres reliever in a single season — breaking the tie with Rollie Fingers (1980) and Butch Metzger (1976).
Morejon has been part of a dominant bullpen that includes Suarez, Jeremiah Estrada and Mason Miller, although the loss of Adam was a tough pill to swallow.
Morejon, who will turn 27 in February, is in the midst of a career season and has been a steady option for manager Mike Shildt.
In 2016, the Padres signed Morejon from Cuba when he was 17 years old and gave him an $11 million deal. He was No. 2 in MLB's top 30 International Prospects list, and general manager AJ Preller even spoke then about Morejon's potential, via Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.
"We view him as an elite talent in the game, at least on the amateur scene this year" Preller said. "You combine projection with 'now' stuff. … It's a combination of a 17-year-old left-hander with some growth potential, that you're excited about what the future holds."
Now, nearly a decade later, Morejon's name is in Padres history books, he is an All-Star, and he is an integral part of a bullpen trying to make a World Series push.