SAN DIEGO -- The Padres might already have the best bullpen in baseball. They lead the Majors in relief ERA, and they just sent three relievers to the All-Star Game -- the first team in MLB history to do so. With a 7-1 victory over the Mets on Tuesday night at Petco Park, San Diego is now riding a four-game winning streak, largely on the strength of that dominant bullpen.
And it might get even better at the Trade Deadline.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller has already indicated as much. Speaking earlier this month in an interview with MLB Network Radio, Preller said he might “add to a strength” in the bullpen before Thursday’s 3 p.m. PT Deadline.
There are obviously more pressing needs in San Diego. The Padres need at least one bat -- and possibly two or three. Their offense is loaded with star power but far too top-heavy. In the rotation, it remains unclear whether they’d trade Dylan Cease (and, if so, how they’d replace him).
Adding to the bullpen would be a luxury. It would also fit with Preller’s recent history. Within the span of the last three Trade Deadlines, he’s added Josh Hader, Tanner Scott and Jason Adam to bullpens that were already strong.
Though perhaps not as strong as this group. This season, San Diego relievers have combined to post a 2.99 ERA, easily the best mark in the Majors. The back end quartet of Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez has been lights out.
“They're elite,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. “Once they get the lead after five, you know it's going to be a battle. They've got a lot of guys -- righties, lefties -- with a lot of different pitch shapes, angles. They can attack you in a lot of different ways. It's not a secret around the league that that's a pretty good bullpen there, and we've seen it for the past couple of nights.”
The downside of all that dominance and all the close games the Padres have played: The back end of their bullpen has been overworked. Estrada and Morejon are two of only four pitchers in the Majors to make 52 appearances. The only reason Adam didn’t join them on Tuesday was because Manny Machado launched his 20th homer of the season, a three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh to put the game out of reach.
“We needed that for sure,” said Machado, who is the only player in the Majors with 20 homers in each of the last 10 full seasons (not counting 2020). “Our bullpen has been our key, right? So to get a couple guys off their feet, it really helped big time.”
The Padres will need more where that came from -- which is one reason they’re looking to add to their offense. But knowing Preller, they presumably won’t stop there. According to multiple people familiar with the team’s decision making, the Padres are considering adding to the current bullpen mix.
The past few days may have strengthened that notion. The Padres have further solidified their spot in the playoff picture. Their cushion in the Wild Card race is now three games over Cincinnati, the nearest chaser.
With higher playoff odds, they’ve also solidified their intent to buy. And in October, there’s no such thing as too many quality relievers.
Already, the Padres aren’t asking much from their starting pitchers on a nightly basis. They’ve turned to dominant back-end arms like Estrada and Morejon as early as the fourth and fifth inning. There probably isn’t another team in baseball that can afford to deploy those types of weapons that way. But the Padres can, because they have Adam and Suarez at the back end as well.
On Tuesday, manager Mike Shildt called on Estrada with the bases loaded and none out in the fifth. Estrada allowed the Mets’ only run on a sacrifice fly but otherwise escaped unscathed.
“I think anybody in the 'pen will at any point want to have the ball in tough situations like that,” Estrada said. “Whoever’s name is called, just go out there and do our thing.”
It’s entirely possible that the Padres would move forward with their current group of relief options. But one more bullpen arm seems to be on their wish list -- perhaps a second high-leverage left-hander to pair with Morejon, who has emerged as arguably the best lefty setup weapon in baseball. The Deadline looms less than two days away.