SAN DIEGO — The Padres are ready to welcome Mason Miller back to their bullpen, and they may also have Adrián Morejón available for Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday night at Petco Park. Miller, San Diego’s superstar closer, will be available after he was activated from the paternity list Wednesday afternoon. His wife, Jordan, gave birth to a son, Lincoln, on Tuesday night during the Padres’ 4-3 Game 3 victory over Milwaukee. “Everything went very well: the baby is healthy, Jordan is doing very well,” Miller said. “So I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Everyone says it changes your life. It definitely does. “You can never really choose when it’s going to happen. I was really hoping it was a time when we were home. Ideally it would be a day off, but I’m happy I was able to be there.” Miller rejoined the Padres on Wednesday and went through his usual pregame routine. He’ll be fully available for Game 4. Morejón’s status is a little more uncertain, as he deals with left shoulder fatigue. He played ball along with the rest of the Padres relievers. According to manager Craig Stammen, it’s very possible Morejón will return in Game 4, with the Padres down two “He was feeling a little better last night after the game,” Stammen said. “So today we’re hoping he’s available.” Neither Miller nor Morejón was available in the Padres’ Game 3 win on Tuesday, during which starter Michael King covered the final two innings for an epic six-out save. result. When he heard the score, he remembered asking a question: “Who saved, Morejón?” They informed him that it was King. “I thought, ‘Oh my God,’” Miller said. “At that time I was not in a position to process it. But yeah, Michael is a phenomenal teammate, a phenomenal person, a phenomenal pitcher. So seeing what he was able to do yesterday, just tip your hat, man.” Jordan had gone into labor Tuesday afternoon before the first pitch, an eventuality the Padres had been planning for a long time. Miller was placed on the paternity list, replaced by left-hander Wandy Peralta. When he was activated a day later, Peralta was removed from the list. Miller posted a 1.67 ERA in 70 innings this season, while recording 129 strikeouts, the most for a reliever in franchise history. It wasn’t easy, but the Padres did it without him for one day. “We’re behind him,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said after Tuesday’s win. “He’s been with us. It has been impressive. It’s been all the good details you can post. Let him have his family time right now.” “I know it’s hard to strike a balance,” said Ty France, who was on the paternity list in September. “But you’re doing the right thing.” “Everyone has a different situation, a different way of looking at it, a different expectation,” Stammen said. “There are always health implications that come with it, and the most important thing is that you want a healthy baby and you want mom and dad to enjoy it. I think we’ve been able to do that with the two births we had here in October.” Right-hander Walker Buehler began the series on the paternity list and was activated before Game 3. Buehler is scheduled to start Game 4, his first postseason appearance (and first since the 2024 World Series closed). Morejón pitched two innings during Game 1 and was unavailable in Game 2, although that didn’t draw much attention at the time. Miller was tasked with a six-out save in Milwaukee, but he only recorded the first five, blowing that save on a two-run single by Jackson Chourio. It wasn’t until Tuesday’s Game 3 that questions arose about Morejón’s health. He was in the Padres’ bullpen, but he never let go, and King took over the eighth and ninth innings. Afterward, Stammen noted that Morejón had been dealing with “some stiffness” in his left shoulder, but that the Padres were hopeful. “Number one, what we’ve done with all the pitchers and what we do as an organization is try to take care of them,” Stammen said. It means the Padres expect Morejón to follow his usual pregame routine on Wednesday before deciding on any plans. “Pretty much the same way we do during the regular season,” Stammen said. “Bring him in, the trainers check him out, go out and play ball, see how he feels, if he wants to throw off the mound or not. Reevaluate what that looks like, how that feels, talk to him individually, talk to the group, and then [we’ll] decide what our pitching plan is for the game.” Could that pitching plan include King again? After throwing 72 pitches in Sunday’s Game 2 and 40 more in Tuesday’s Game 3? According to Stammen, the answer is yes. “We’re at that point in the season where everyone, anything they can give us, we’re going to use,” he said. “There’s no tomorrow if we don’t win tonight.” Still, the Padres would almost certainly prefer to stay away from King, if possible. With Miller back in the mix, and potentially Morejón as well, they could pull it off.
