The San Diego Padres signed undrafted free agent David Morgan after a pre-draft tryout at Petco Park in August of 2022. Although not a native San Diegan, his parents met and dated and lived here before he was born. Morgan was born in Mission Viejo, CA twenty five years ago and attended Mission Viejo High School but he and his family traveled to Petco Park to watch the Padres play. He grew up a Padres fan.

He played the infield at Orange Coast College and John Altobelli was his coach. He was on the team when the helicopter crash that killed Altobelli, his wife Keri, his daughter Alyssa, Kobe Bryant and Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, in January of 2020. The coach was close to many of his players and meant a lot to everyone he had mentored during his career. Morgan was one of them.

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Shortly after that, the Covid-19 pandemic ended the season for everyone. The 2021 season was also delayed due to the pandemic and Morgan returned to Orange Coast because he wanted to win a championship in honor of the coach who meant so much to him.

As a result, he had too many junior college credits to play for a Division I team without having to take a year off. Instead, he enrolled at Hope International University, an NAIA school in CA. During his college career, his throwing arm was noted to be exceptionally strong. After initially resisting the change to pitching, Morgan was convinced at Hope because he had been passed over the previous two summers in the draft.

The Padres’ area scout saw him pitch and that led to his tryout with the team. After signing, Morgan went through Low-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne his first pro season. In 2024, he started in Fort Wayne then was promoted to Double-A San Antonio. Starting 2025 in San Antonio, Morgan threw 8.2 innings and struck out 19 to 1 BB. He was called up to the Padres and placed on the major league roster on April 27 when Logan Gillaspie was placed on the IL.

Although Morgan did not pitch in the week he was with the team, he went down to El Paso and kept working. On May 25 he was brought back up when Michael King was placed on the IL with shoulder inflammation. He made his major league debut Monday evening against the Miami Marlins in the eighth inning. He got two quick outs pitching in the ballpark he attended as a kid while watching Trevor Hoffman and Jake Peavy pitch.

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If you pay attention when Morgan pitches, you will see roman numerals tattooed on the right side of his neck. The line reads: V XIV XXII – The first is the number (5) Alyssa Altobelli wore on her basketball team that Kobe Bryant helped coach, the second (14) is the number John Altobelli wore during his coaching career, and the third (22) is the number that both Altobelli wore to honor a former student who passed away and the number Morgan wore as a minor leaguer to honor Altobelli.

Morgan had that full circle moment that most players don’t get a chance to have and he was welcomed into the Padres clubhouse when called up by another guy who has experienced the same thing. Joe Musgrove greeted him on his arrival after a long travel day on April 27, and handed him a cup of coffee in greeting.

(Details per Dennis Lin, The Athletic May 1, 2025)

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