[Lin] Adrián Morejón’s new “kick-change” pitch, a modified half-knuckle changeup, has dominated righties—opponents are 0-for-10 with 5 Ks. He leads MLB relievers with 8 wins. His 1.72 ERA is the lowest on a Padres team that leads the league in bullpen ERA.

It’s a kick-change, a pitch that has gained popularity around the game. Morejon grips it with his middle finger spiked on the ball, “kicking” the axis forward on release and producing tailing movement. The results, in a small sample, have been noteworthy: Beginning with that Acuña at-bat on May 23, Morejon has thrown 27 changeups this season, all to right-handed hitters. Opponents are 0-for-10 with five strikeouts against the pitch.

“It is a good pitch. It pairs well,” Fritz said. “I think you look at his arsenal and what he’s typically doing to you — it’s still a little bit of an element of surprise because he’s thrown (only 27 knuckle-changes). … Any pitch that’s overexposed is not going to be as well performing. But it does have a good profile, and we expect that the pitch should play well for him moving forward, even if the usage goes up.”

It’s the kind of pitch that projects to play into October. And it’s another reason the Padres can dream of returning to that stage.

“In the first couple months, Ruben, Fritz and I were in the bullpen trying to figure it out, looking at all the numbers, seeing how well it would work,” Morejon said. “We just messed with a couple things, but finally, it came out well in the way that it is now.”

It’s another reason Morejon has emerged as one of the best relievers in baseball.

“Watching him now get to this point in his career, the guy that we knew we had signed years ago, is very gratifying,” Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla said.

Morejon’s 50 appearances are tied for the third most in the majors. He leads all relievers with eight wins. His 1.72 ERA is the lowest on a Padres team that leads the league in bullpen ERA. His “expected” ERA, 1.75, is the lowest in the sport. He is fulfilling lofty projections — finally, and just in time.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6514460/2025/07/27/adrian-morejon-ascension-padres/