Adrian Morejon Wants To Remain A Reliever

Left-hander Adrian Morejon is one of the top relievers on the free agent market, and he wants to keep it that way. Will Sammon, Ken Rosenthal, and Katie Woo of The Athletic report that Morejon prefers to stay in the bullpen, despite drawing interest as a starter.

The 27-year-old Morejon is coming off a dominant platform year setting up for closer Mason Miller. He posted a 2.83 ERA with a 30.4% strikeout rate across a career-high 86 innings. Morejon finished tied for fifth in the league with 28 holds. He also chipped in three saves.

Morejon has been a crucial part of an elite Padres bullpen for the past three seasons. He’s had a sub-3.00 ERA with solid strikeout numbers and good control while operating in a high-leverage gig. Morejon has piled up 60 holds, 25 wins, and eight saves since the start of 2024.

It’s been quite some time since Morejon operated as a starter. The Padres signed him as an international free agent in 2016. He worked strictly as a starter in the lower levels of the minors, but took on a swingman role when he first debuted with San Diego in 2019. Morejon pitched in parts of three seasons with the Padres, then needed Tommy John surgery in 2021. He’s been almost exclusively a reliever since then. Morejon has made one MLB start over the past five years, and it came as an extended opener in 2023.

Lights-out relievers transitioning into starting roles isn’t uncommon. Clay Holmes saved 30 games for the Yankees in 2024, then left for the Mets in free agency to be a starter. Seth Lugo followed a similar path once he reached the open market. Reid Detmers came up as a starter with the Angels, moved to a relief role, then jumped back into starting last season. He put together easily the best campaign of his career in 2026. As The Athletic notes, these transitions are typically driven by the players. Holmes made it clear in free agency that he wanted to sign as a starting pitcher. Morejon doesn’t seem to have that same desire.

If he made the switch to starting, the arsenal would play. Morejon threw four different pitches at least 14% of the time last season. He leads with a sinker/changeup combo, backed by a slider and a four-seamer. It’s a well-balanced mix that can get both righties and lefties out.

The interesting factor would be the velocity. After sitting 96-97 mph with his four-seamer and sinker the past two seasons, Morejon averaged 99+ mph on both pitches in 2026. The only qualified pitchers with harder sinkers were Miller, Edgardo Henriquez, and Jacob Misiorowski. The uptick in velocity spurred a career-best 16.8% swinging-strike rate and a strikeout rate above 30% for the first time since the shortened 2020 season.

Morejon has shown he can be effective at a lower velocity, but the punchouts would likely come down in a starting role. He’d also be looking at some sort of workload limitations. Morejon has set career highs in innings in each of the past two seasons, though he’s yet to approach even 100 frames as a pro. He also dealt with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the final three games of the NLCS.

The Padres extended the qualifying offer to Morejon. That slightly dims his outlook in free agency, but shouldn’t be a major deterrent. He ranks eighth on our Top 50 Free Agents list. We have him landing a five-year, $80MM deal.