Padres All-Star Reliever Suddenly Hitting 100 MPH in Massive Development

Adrian Morejon had a breakout season for the San Diego Padres in 2025, making his first career All-Star appearance and finally becoming the pitcher that he was expected to be as a longtime top prospect.

But could he be even better in 2026?

Morejon has had a strong showing thus far in Cactus League play, pitching eight innings and allowing three runs with 11 strikeouts to just one walk. Much more eye-opening, however, is how fast he's pitching.

Last season, Morejon averaged 97.6 mph on his fastball, which ranked in the 93rd percentile across MLB. While he was one of the league's hardest-throwers, he was rarely touching triple digits.

That seems to have changed.

In his most recent Cactus League appearance on Tuesday, Morejon threw nine fastballs of at least 100 mph. That's more than he's thrown in his entire career, as he has just six such pitches over the last seven seasons, per Thomas Nestico of TJStats.

And to think I couldn't be more excited about Adrain Morejon, he starts to blow 100 MPH fastballs by batters!

He threw more +100 MPH fastballs today (9) than in his entire career (6) !!! pic.twitter.com/VPtMSmQtmX
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 17, 2026

This is an unbelievable development for Morejon and the Padres, as he looks to have an even better 2026 season.

Morejon, who was a top 10 prospect in the organization from 2017-20, struggled over his first five seasons in MLB, sporting a 5.28 ERA with 73 strikeouts over 75 innings.

He finally put it together year in 2024, sporting a 2.83 ERA with 71 strikeouts over 63.2 innings. Then, he had a breakout All-Star campaign last year, finishing with a 2.08 ERA and 70 strikeouts across 73.2 innings. His 75 appearances were second on the team behind Jeremiah Estrada (77).

Morejon was among the best pitchers in baseball in terms of expected ERA (97th percentile), average exit velocity (98th percentile), barrel percentage (97th percentile) and hard-hit percentage (99th percentile). His strikeout and whiff numbers weren't elite, but he appears to be off to a strong start this spring in those categories.

If Morejon can level up, it would be an incredible boost to what should already be a dominant Padres bullpen. Mason Miller, the closer, is arguably the best reliever in MLB. Estrada is coming off a dominant season, as is Jason Adam, who's expected to return from injury early in the season, if not by Opening Day.

Morejon's sudden jump in velocity is a storyline to watch for the Padres heading into the new season. If he can be even better than he was in 2025, the rest of the league will need to watch out when the Padres call to the bullpen in 2026.

“He’s a dynamic reliever," manager Craig Stammen said of Morejon this spring. "He can pitch multiple innings or be dominant for one inning. He’s a little bit of a Swiss Army Knife that we’ll have for this season.”

A Swiss Army Knife that can touch triple digits with ease wouldn't exactly be fair for the rest of the league. It could also make Morejon and Miller the best relief duo in MLB.