Padres Lose Top Reliever to Injured List With Elbow Injury, Activate Jason Adam

The San Diego Padres have officially activated right-handed pitcher Jason Adam off the injured list, setting him up to make his 2026 debut.

Unfortunately for them, the corresponding move was placing right-handed pitcher Jeremiah Estrada on the injured list with right elbow tendinitis.

Estrada's velocity has been down all year. Now, he's heading to the 15-day injured list.

We have reinstated RHP Jason Adam from the 15-day IL and placed RHP Jeremiah Estrada on the 15-day IL with right elbow tendonitis.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 11, 2026

Estrada admitted after Thursday's game that he was concerned about the drop in velocity.

“It’s not hard to know this is a worry,” Estrada said to reporters. “It’s kind of a bit of a shock.”

He added: “We’ll dissect it. We have the best pitching staff in baseball. All it takes is just go back into the office and look back at what’s going on. I’m trying my hardest to say I’m not worried about it. But I am not. This game is about taking time and patience.

"You’ve got to figure it out quick, though, it’s the big leagues.”

The Padres will now give Estrada at least two weeks off as they figure out what's wrong. He has a 5.14 ERA across seven innings this season. His average fastball velocity is 95.0 mph. Last year, it was 97.9 mph.

Jason Adam Returns to Padres

As for Adam, the 34-year-old last took an MLB mound on Sept. 1, 2025, when he exited in the seventh inning of a game against the Baltimore Orioles after rupturing his left quadriceps tendon.

Adam underwent surgery and was slow-played by the Padres this spring. He appeared in just two Cactus League games toward the end of spring training, and opened the season on the injured list despite feeling like he was ready to go.

Adam made four rehab appearances at Triple-A, pitching five scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and two walks. He returned to the team on Thursday, but wasn't yet activated after pitching two innings on Wednesday for his final rehab outing.

Adam has maintained that he's felt great all spring in his return from major surgery. On Thursday, he said he'd be ready to return whenever the Padres decided to make the move.

“In my mind I’m ready to go," Adam said to reporters, "but I know that [pitching coach Ruben Niebla] and the whole team here is gonna do whatever they think is best for the team and the timing that they think is right for me and the team."

“I feel like I’m moving well, no restrictions,” he added. “Arm feels good, leg feels good. Had to cover first yesterday, so we got to check another box. So all good.”