The San Diego Padres entered the 2025 season with a back of the bullpen made up of Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez. Three of those four players were named 2025 National League All-Stars, and Estrada made a strong argument that he could or should have been on the team as well.
Despite the strength and the success of his bullpen, Padres General Manager and President of Baseball Operations AJ Preller added to that group by acquiring Mason Miller, the hard-throwing closer from the Athletics, at the trade deadline. The addition has caused media, who cover the Padres and the Friar Faithful to spin their wheels trying to come up with a nickname for the group, which was previously called The Four Horsemen.
San Diego rookie reliever David Morgan has been making a case that any nickname for the bullpen should be considered with six relievers in mind rather than five. His most recent outing came Sunday against the Boston Red Sox and lasted 1 2/3 innings. Morgan did not allow a hit and struck out three batters in the appearance.
Strikeouts are nothing new for Morgan. The 2022 free-agent signee has more strikeouts than innings pitched, and he has appeared in 27 games this season for San Diego. Morgan has made one start and has a record of 1-1 with a 1.71 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings pitched.
The Baseball Savant page for Morgan tells the story of his success to this point in the season. He has only allowed 79 batted balls on 486 pitches and six of those batted balls were barreled. Morgan limits walks and has swing and miss stuff, which allows him to keep opposing hitters off balance.
If Morgan can keep stringing together performances like he did against the Red Sox, he will have to be mentioned in the same breath as his afore mentioned teammates.