TL;DR
Get sports gear delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Padres reliever Adrian Morejón has worked with mental performance coach Jeremías Alvarez since February 2024, using daily conversations and weekly online sessions to manage pressure and move past setbacks. Morejón finished the 2026 regular season with a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, and is expected to have a key role as San Diego faces elimination in NLDS Game 3.
Morejón has worked with Alvarez since February 2024. The two speak or text daily and hold an hour-long online session each week throughout the year, the Union-Tribune reported. Morejón prioritizes the sessions and credits the work with helping him manage the thoughts and expectations that previously made it difficult to recover when something went wrong on the mound.
The change came after a difficult stretch in which injuries and poor results disrupted his progress. Morejón underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, returned to the Padres in June 2022, then recorded a 7.00 ERA in nine major-league innings in 2023. He told the newspaper that a walk at the start of an inning could lead him to unravel and feel that everything afterward was going wrong.
Morejón’s 2026 regular season ended with a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP across a career-high 86 innings, the report said. He made his first All-Star team in 2025. The Padres have not announced a specific assignment for him in Game 3; the newspaper said he is expected to be an important part of the team’s effort to avoid elimination.
A Reset After the Setbacks
Morejón’s account offers a view into the mental work behind a reliever’s ability to move quickly from one pitch or appearance to the next. In high-leverage situations, a mistake can immediately affect a game, and dwelling on it may complicate the next decision. Morejón’s approach, as he described it, is to treat a home run or other setback as one event rather than proof that the rest of the outing will fail.
The story also shows how the Padres identified a development need that was not a mechanical flaw. Pitching coach Jose Rada noticed that Morejón’s confidence could fall sharply when a session or outing went badly. The resulting focus on mental performance became part of his ongoing preparation. It cannot establish that coaching alone produced his statistics, but Morejón and Padres coaches credit the work as one part of his development.
That distinction matters as San Diego faces a must-win game. A reliever’s ability to respond to adversity could affect how the club deploys him under pressure, but the precise role Morejón will have Tuesday has not been disclosed.
mental performance coaching for athletes
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Injury Return to Relief Role
Morejón left Cuba as a teenager and signed with the Padres as a 16-year-old international free agent for $11 million, according to the Union-Tribune. He was separated from close family while pursuing a career with substantial expectations attached. After his return from elbow surgery, further injuries and uncertainty added to that pressure.
In the offseason after his difficult 2023, Morejón worked at the Padres’ Arizona complex with Rada. Rada showed him a document from pitching coach Ruben Niebla listing offseason priorities for bullpen pitchers. Beside Morejón’s name, the focus was on the mental side of his game, rather than his pitches. Rada suggested he contact Alvarez in spring training 2024. Morejón initially waited several weeks before calling, encouraged by his wife, Melany.
One early test came when the Padres told Morejón after a strong spring that he would not make the Opening Day roster and would report to Triple-A El Paso. He later recalled accepting the decision and telling the manager he was ready to help in whatever way needed. The report describes that response as an example of how he was learning to handle disappointment differently.
““Today it happened to be my day that I give up a home run. It’s about competing the following day and figuring out how to be better tomorrow.””
— Adrian Morejón, after Game 1 of the NLDS
Game 3 Role Still Unspecified
The Padres have not publicly detailed how many innings Morejón might pitch, whether he would enter in a particular matchup or how his availability will be managed after he sat out Game 2. The report says he is expected to play a major role, but does not identify a confirmed assignment.
The source also does not quantify how much Morejón’s work with Alvarez contributed to his performance, separate from pitching development, health, defense or other factors. The account of the coaching relationship and its benefits comes from Morejón and Padres staff; it is not a controlled measure of cause and effect.
Padres Turn to Tuesday at Petco
San Diego is scheduled to host Milwaukee in Game 3 on Tuesday night at Petco Park, with the Padres trying to stave off elimination in the best-of-five series. Morejón’s exact usage should become clearer through the team’s lineup and pitching decisions and during the game.
For Morejón, the immediate test is the same one he described after Game 1: put the previous result aside and prepare for the next opportunity. The Padres’ series status and his role in the game will determine whether that opportunity comes in a high-leverage moment.
Key Questions
What happened to Adrian Morejón in NLDS Game 1?
Milwaukee’s William Contreras hit a go-ahead home run off Morejón in the Brewers’ 3-2 win. Morejón said afterward that he was focused on competing the following day.
Who is Morejón’s mental performance coach?
He works with Jeremías Alvarez, an athlete mental performance coach. They have worked together since February 2024, with daily contact and a weekly online session, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
What were Morejón’s 2026 regular-season numbers?
The report says he finished the regular season with a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in a career-high 86 innings pitched.
Will Morejón pitch in NLDS Game 3?
He was expected to play a major role after sitting out Game 2, but the Padres had not announced a specific assignment or workload in the report.
Source: google-trends
NFL season / tailgating Picks
team gear
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
