Padres closer Mason Miller is back and good to go for Game 4 in San Diego on Wednesday night as his team tries to stave off elimination again. He was reactivated for the game and Wandy Rodriguez was removed, the team announced Wednesday afternoon.
Miller was placed on the paternity list prior to Game 3 of the NLDS with the Padres trailing the Brewers 0-2 in the best-of-five series. The Padres were able to pull off the victory in Game 3 with a 4-3 win, which included a two-inning save by starting pitcher Michael King.
In Sunday's Game 2, with the Padres clinging to a one-run lead late, Miller failed to pull off his own two-inning save. Instead, the Brewers stormed back and won in walk-off fashion to take the 2-0 series lead. Miller recorded outs vs. the first four hitters he faced, but then walked three of the next four hitters he saw and gave up a two-RBI single to Jackson Chourio to take the blown save and loss.
Entering Game 4, Miller is now on three days of rest.
He came into the playoffs as arguably the best closer in baseball, racking up 38 saves and a 1.67 ERA in the regular season.
Meanwhile, lefty Adrián Morejón, the Padres' second-biggest late-inning gun, hasn't pitched since going two innings in Game 1. It made sense that he didn't pitch in Game 2, but he wasn't available in Game 3 either, due to a previously undisclosed shoulder issue. Stammen said on Wednesday that he's "hopeful" Morejón will be available.
"Still feeling a little stickiness in the shoulder," Stammen said after Game 3. "We're trying to work through it. We're doing everything we can to get him ready. We'll see his status about tomorrow, but he was definitely feeling a little bit better today but just didn't feel like he could go.
"There's definitely a chance [he pitches in Game 4], yeah. We'll see. We've got to evaluate him [Wednesday] like we did today and put him in a safe space to be able to pitch. We don't want to put him out there if he's compromised."
The Padres still have excellent relievers like Jason Adam and Bradgley Rodriguez, but the bullpen is a monster force when the best versions of Miller and Morejón are 100%. Perhaps we'll find out in Game 4 if that's the case.
