Adrian Morejon & Bryan Hoeing’s value may lie in rotation for Padres

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In searching for rotation help in the coming season, Adrian Morejon and Bryan Hoeing are two pitchers to monitor for the San Diego Padres

The 2024 season ended abruptly for the San Diego Padres.

It looked as though the team would reach the promised land, but offensive failures at an inopportune moment doomed the Padres in the NLDS.

This winter has been very frustrating for the fanbase as Roki Sasaki signed with the Dodgers. Plus, ownership drama filled the headlines. The Padres have made no major moves this spring. Elias Diaz is the largest addition this winter at $3.5 million and one year. Beyond that, the team signed several minor-league players but nothing of real value.

To make matters worse, the Padres seem hell-bent on lowering payroll and are the subject of several rumors in the last few weeks.

Michael King, Dylan Cease, and Luis Arraez are all free agents after the 2025 season. There are whispers that the team may prefer dealing each player sooner rather than later to maximize the value they get in return. Unfortunately, the team cannot sign all three men to long term deals. One may be able to be retained, but that will come down to dollars and cents.

King and Cease seem destined to pitch elsewhere in 2025, but do not fret Padres fans- there are a few options internally that hardly anyone is talking about.

 

Adrian Morejon

This southpaw may be able to eat innings for the Padres in 2025. Replacing King and or Cease will be challenging, but Morejon has the same top-of-the-order stuff as this duo.

Adrian Morejon is coming off his most productive season in the majors and will be 26 years old next season. The once highly touted prospect battled through injuries throughout his career but may be able to put it all together in 2025. It may be time for him to step up and become the complete pitcher he is capable of becoming.

Durability concerns are the elephant in the room. He has never thrown anywhere near 100 innings in a single season. To expect him to eclipse that total in 2025 is a bit unrealistic, considering he has never thrown more than 65.1 innings and did that as a 19-year-old in 2018. This week, manager Mike Shildt indicated the Padres would leave Morejon in the bullpen, but things can easily change in a heartbeat.

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Bryan Hoeing

Acquired from the Marlins last trade season,Ā Bryan HoeingĀ pitched in relief for the Padres. He was effective, recording a 1.52 ERA in 18 games for San Diego. Hoeing was very effective with runners on base and that bodes well for a potential rotation spot.

Hoeing is more than capable of returning to a starter. Something he did in his time in the minor leagues for Miami. His stuff is not flashy, as the right-hander generally pitches to contact. That is fine for the Padres, as they would be more concerned about the fact that he is capable of eating innings and going deep into games. That brings a lot of value in itself.

The tall righty threw 121 innings in 2021 and 119.2 in 2022 for the Marlins as a minor leaguer. It may take him some time to stretch out, but he is capable of starting 25-30 games in the 2025 season.

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