Padres Preparing For All-Hands-On-Deck Bullpen Performance In Game 4 of NLDS

[Yirsandy Rodríguez]

The San Diego Padres are still alive after a dramatic 4-3 victory in Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers in the return to Petco Park. There will be a Game 4, and that leaves a lot of hope for the team and the fans, despite the fact that they are facing the most successful team of the regular season. However, San Diego could face an even more complicated challenge in Game 4: trying to find all the sufficient innings from the bullpen if they cannot count on left-hander Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller.

Miller was not available in Game 3 after being placed on the paternity list, and Morejon is dealing with shoulder fatigue. It's unclear as of now if either (or both) pitcher will be able to go tonight.

After throwing five innings with three hits allowed and one run on 72 pitches last Sunday in Game 2, Michael King handled the Padres’ final two innings with a spectacular finish, inducing Christian Yelich to hit into a double play to close out the game and preserve the one-run lead. King needed to throw 40 pitches, which adds up to a total of 112 over the last two playoff games. It has been a performance worthy of applause, as the ace of the staff has carried a huge part of the pitching load so far. Meanwhile, the other starters, Robbie Ray in Game 1 and Nick Pivetta in Game 2, combined for 114 pitches. Neither of them was dominant enough to control the Brewers’ offense and neither managed to earn the confidence to complete five innings.

This is what the starters’ performances looked like:

King: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR, 27 BF, 63 Game Score, SV

Ray and Pivetta combined: 7 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR, 32 BF, 45 Game Score

King’s contribution added to the heavy workload the Padres’ bullpen has carried in this NLDS, handling 53.2% of the innings (13 2/3 of 25 2/3), but the plan for Game 4 could become the most complicated game if right-hander Walker Buehler cannot go deep enough. That said, assuming the bullpen will not have the availability of Miller or Morejon, Craig Stammen will need to trust less-heralded arms in high-leverage spots.

Historically, Buehler has been a pitcher who tends to rise to the occasion when October arrives and, in fact, the only time he faced the Brewers this season was last August 11, and he had a solid start with six innings of one-run ball, with five strikeouts, two walks and only three hits allowed in the Padres’ 11-2 victory at Petco Park. However, he has struggled in his career against most of the Brewers’ left-handed hitters.

Although the samples are small, it is clear how much of a difference some good at-bats from Milwaukee’s left-handed hitters throughout the lineup could make. Sal Frelick, David Hamilton, Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell have combined to go 5-for-13, with only three strikeouts—two by Yelich and one by Mitchell—in 15 plate appearances, while Brice Turang and Jake Bauers have the only extra-base hits, a triple and a home run, respectively. The other key hitter has been Jackson Chourio (1-for-3), who has reached base in two of his four at-bats against Buehler with a pair of RBIs.

Therefore, it is clear that left-handed pitchers could play a fundamental role in the bullpen. Left-hander Wandy Peralta was added to the roster for this NLDS in place of Miller and could help alongside Yuki Matsui to face important situations against left-handed hitters. Peralta has an interesting history against the Brewers, as left-handed hitters have hit .276 (8-for-29) against him, with no extra-base hits, only three RBIs, six strikeouts and a pair of walks in 31 matchups. But that offensive line changes considerably when we take Yelich out of the equation, as he has carried a good part of that production with a 5-for-13 line, two RBIs, one walk and a .813 OPS in 14 plate appearances against Peralta. The rest of the hitters combine to go 3-for-16 (.188) with one RBI, four strikeouts and one walk.

Matsui has relieved in every game so far, and has allowed only one unearned run and one hit against the 15 batters he has faced in 3 1/3 innings. His biggest complications have come with the two walks he has issued and one batter hit, but in his last two outings none of the four runners he has inherited were able to score.

Matsui’s relief appearance in Game 3, when he came in to rescue Jason Adam, marked one of the turning points that kept the Padres alive. He came in and got Turang out with a ground ball to short to end the fifth inning. On the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth, Jake Cronenworth hit a solo home run to break the tie—his first postseason home run since the 2022 NLDS—and the Brewers could not come back on the scoreboard again.

Between the fifth and ninth, the bullpen left nine of the 11 runners left on base in the game, including the bases loaded in the fifth inning, and two other scoreless innings with a pair of runners on base against Bradgley Rodriguez—who pitched in his third consecutive game in this NLDS—in the sixth and seventh, respectively. Besides Peralta and Matsui, Ray was warming up in the bullpen to be ready if needed in Game 3, so he could well be another left-handed arm to keep in mind for Game 4.

So, if Morejon and Miller are not available this Wednesday for Game 4, it will simply be an all-hands-on-deck type of game for the bullpen. It will be another battle of life or death, so the Padres have to do everything they can to survive.

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