Padres Notes April 8: Mason Miller Development, Adrian Morejon Struggles Continue, Pitcher Report Card

The San Diego Padres lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-1, on Tuesday and fell to 5-6 on the year.

A Xander Bogaerts home run off of Paul Skenes in the seventh inning accounted for the sole run of the evening, but the shortstop's third consecutive game with a hit (6-for-11 in that span) reminded manager Craig Stammen of what his squad had been looking forward to last month.

“Start of the season, we felt really good about how he was swinging,” Stammen said. “He looked like the Xander Bogaerts that we were looking forward to. He had a couple games where he was kind of off. And now he’s back to what he was. That’s exciting, and I think it bodes well for the rest of the season for him.”

Although the score would say otherwise, the Padres held their own against the two-time All-Star and Cy Young award winner in Skenes. Stammen spoke on the Boegaerts long ball that knocked Skenes out of a then 2-1 game.

“It was a good competition,” Stammen said. “You could say he ended up coming out a little bit on top. Bogey hit that home run there, kind of chased him a little bit. Felt like we had a chance there, just down one run. But wasn’t to be in the eighth inning for us.”

Despite being charged with the loss, Nick Pivetta had quite the day. The right-hander tossed eight strikeouts (for the second consecutive start) and walked just one batter through five frames.

Unfortunately, Adrian Morejon struggled on Tuesday at PNC Park, allowing five hits and five runs (four of which were earned) while recording just one out across 20 pitches. He, and the rest of the Padres hurlers, have been graded by the staff of Padres on SI on how they have started 2026.

In more pitching news, star reliever Mason Miller is developing another pitch in his arsenal that makes his dominance another step scarier for opposing hitters. In addition to having the fastest average fastball in MLB, he had this to say about his new offering being worked into his repertoire.

“Time and place for it. If the matchup’s good, I’m not afraid to throw it.”

Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article):

Latest Mason Miller Development Makes Padres Star Downright Unfair

Padres Pitcher Report Card: Grading Every Arm 10 Games Into the Season

Padres' $15 Million Addition Has No Timeline to Debut This Season

Padres Manager Takes Responsibility for Hitters Not Feeling Comfortable Yet

Padres Lineup vs Pirates: Nick Castellanos Out, Miguel Andujar Starting

Padres Tweets of the Day

Xander Bogaerts has knocked Paul Skenes out of this game with his first home run of the season🔥🔥🔥🔥

Padres now trail 2-1 in the 7th👀👀pic.twitter.com/3b8Bj7MVXU
— Padres On SI (@PadresOnSI) April 8, 2026

Hometown kid. pic.twitter.com/P8pKvECs40
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 7, 2026

City Connect 2.0 Coming Soon pic.twitter.com/4wptilrDoj
— Petco Park (@PetcoPark) April 7, 2026