San Diego Padres Pitchers of the Month: May 2026

The San Diego Padres played to an 18-7 record in April, but it was probably inevitable that the Friars would fall to earth in May.

Their starting rotation was ravaged by injuries and the offensive production was downright anemic, as they went 13-15 during the month and limped into June 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. There was one aspect of the team that remained great, though, and that was the bullpen.

Last year, the Padres became the first team ever to send three relievers to an All-Star Game. They could easily match that feat or even exceed it this year. Mason Miller, Jason Adam, Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejon, and Yuki Matsui all have stat lines that could send them to Philadelphia this summer for the Midsummer Classic. Among the five-headed monster, who were the Padres three best pitchers in May? Spoiler alert: Number one isn't Mason Miller. 

Ranking Padres' Best Pitchers in May

#3. Yuki Matsui, RP

“Dad, what’s a LOOGY?” my future child will ask.

“Lefty one-out guy,” I’ll say, lifting my chain contemplatively, then nodding with tears in my eyes. “They got paid a lot of money to do one specific thing. And they were the weirdest people on the planet.”

I have no idea if Yuki Matsui is weird behind the scenes, but I do know that he is a dyed-in-the-wool LOOGY, even if he does have to occasionally face a righty thanks to rule changes instituted in 2020 that require pitchers to have a minimum number of batters. 

Matsui's average pitch velocity is 86.8 miles per hour, and yet lefties are batting .111 against him this year. Their OPS is .398. Matsui came back from injury on May 8, so his 0.60 ERA in last month tells the story of the season so far. The LOOGY is not extinct, for Yuki Matsui exists.

#2. Mason Miller, RP

Much has been said about Mason Miller’s historically dominant season, although in May he came down from his lofty heights. This is to say he allowed one unearned run and his FIP on the season is no longer negative. It’s true Miller is probably reverting to the mean. His strikeouts dropped and his walks went up, as did his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage against. But the mean he’s reverting to is so obscenely great it almost doesn’t matter. He pitched worse in May and had a 0.00 ERA in 9.2 innings, and he went 7-for-7 in save opportunities. He’s not our top option here, but only because there’s another Padres reliever with a 0.00 ERA in the last month.

#1. Jason Adam, RP

In July 2024, the Padres traded highly-rated prospects in pitcher Dylan Lesko, outfielder Homer Bush Jr., and catcher J.D. Gonzalez to the Tampa Rays for reliever Jason Adam. Lesko pitched to a 6.96 ERA in the minors in 2024 and a 10.50 ERA in 2025. He is in Single-A this season. Bush Jr. is approaching his 25th birthday and he’s still in the minors. Gonzalez has a .482 OPS in three minor league seasons. 

Adam, on the other hand, has accrued 4.8 bWAR as a Padre and was an All-Star last year. This year, he’s been even better, and May was the best month of his career. In 12 innings pitched across 13 games, Adam allowed zero runs. Miller has all those saves because Adam held leads. The only blemish was Adam’s WHIP, which reached 1.08. He gets the edge over Miller in this list because he faced more batters and had the same ultimate outcome as Miller: no one scored on either pitcher.

Acquiring Adam should go down as one of A.J. Preller’s best trades ever. It’s just a shame Adam can’t hit.