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Padres left-hander Adrian Morejón has worked with mental performance coach Jeremías Alvarez since February 2024, speaking or texting daily and meeting weekly online. Morejón credits that work, alongside his baseball development, with helping him respond to setbacks as he prepares for a possible major role in the Padres’ NLDS elimination game.
Padres reliever Adrian Morejón has worked with mental performance coach Jeremías Alvarez since February 2024, a routine Morejón credits with helping him move past mistakes as he prepares for a possible major role in San Diego’s NLDS Game 3. The left-hander gave up the go-ahead home run in the Padres’ 3-2 Game 1 loss to Milwaukee, but said afterward he was focused on competing the next day rather than dwelling on the pitch.
Morejón and Alvarez talk or text every day and meet online for an hour each week throughout the year, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune report. Morejón said he prioritizes the sessions and sees the mental work as part of his development as a high-leverage reliever. He had previously struggled to put bad pitches behind him, sometimes dwelling on errors and expecting perfection from himself.
The coaching relationship began after a difficult stretch in Morejón’s career. Following Tommy John surgery in 2021 and a return to the Padres in 2022, further injuries limited him in 2023. He recorded a 7.00 ERA in nine major league innings that year, with his minor league results also falling short of expectations. Padres pitching coach Jose Rada noticed that Morejón’s confidence could drop sharply after a setback and encouraged him to work on the mental side of the game.
Morejón initially hesitated, but made contact with Alvarez during spring training in 2024 after encouragement from his wife, Melany. He said he noticed a difference within a month. The report says he made his first All-Star team in 2025 and finished the 2026 regular season with a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over a career-high 86 innings. Those results do not establish that coaching alone produced his performance; Morejón credits the work as one part of his progress.
How Mental Skills Shape His Relief Work
Relief pitchers often enter games with little margin for error: a walk or a home run can quickly change a close game. Morejón’s account shows how a player’s response after a mistake can matter alongside physical preparation. He described a past pattern of spiraling after trouble on the mound; now, he says, he can focus on the next opportunity.
The timing is immediate for San Diego. After sitting out Game 2, Morejón is expected to have a significant role as the Padres try to stay alive in the best-of-five NLDS. His ability to reset may be relevant to that assignment, though no coaching approach can guarantee a particular result in a game.
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From Injury Setbacks to a Daily Routine
Morejón grew up in Cuba, left home as a teenager and signed with the Padres as a 16-year-old international free agent for $11 million, according to the report. The combination of leaving his family, high expectations and repeated injuries contributed to a difficult period. He said that in the culture he grew up in, men were not expected to seek help with mental health.
In the 2023-24 offseason, Rada showed him a Padres document listing relievers’ offseason priorities. The space beside Morejón’s name was blank because the concern was not a particular pitch, the report said; he needed to focus on the mental aspect of his game. Rada then provided Alvarez’s contact details. Morejón did not call immediately, but eventually agreed to try the sessions.
Morejón later described a test of that work when he learned after a strong 2024 spring that he would not make the Padres’ opening roster and would be sent to Triple-A El Paso. He said he accepted the decision without falling apart and told the minor league manager he was ready to take on whatever was needed. That response contrasted with the way he says he might once have handled the news.
““It’s about competing the following day and figuring out how to be better tomorrow.””
— Adrian Morejón, after the Padres’ Game 1 loss to Milwaukee
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What the Coaching Can—and Cannot—Show
The report describes Morejón’s experience and his own view of the coaching’s value; it does not establish how much of his on-field performance can be attributed to those sessions rather than pitching, health, defense or other factors. Morejón’s account of noticing a difference within a month is personal testimony, not a measured evaluation of the coach’s effect.
The report also says Morejón’s 2026 season included a 5.63 ERA in its first month, partly amid defensive miscues and bad luck, but the supplied material ends before detailing how he responded over the rest of the season. His exact workload and role in Game 3 have not been confirmed. The Padres’ postseason prospects remain dependent on the result of the series, not on any single player’s preparation.
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Padres Face Game 3 in San Diego
The Padres are scheduled to host the Brewers in Game 3 on Tuesday night at Petco Park, with San Diego trying to avoid elimination in the best-of-five series. Morejón was held out of Game 2 and is expected to play a major role in the next game, according to the report, but the Padres had not specified his exact assignment in the supplied material.
His performance in the game will provide the next immediate test of his preparation, but it will not by itself establish the effect of mental coaching. The series result and any further details about Morejón’s availability or usage remain to be seen.
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Key Questions
Who is Adrian Morejón’s mental performance coach?
Morejón has worked with Jeremías Alvarez, a coach who works with athletes, since February 2024, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.How often do Morejón and Alvarez meet?
They talk or text daily and hold an hour-long online session each week throughout the year, the report says.What prompted Morejón to seek mental performance support?
After injuries and a difficult 2023 season, Padres pitching coach Jose Rada noticed that Morejón’s confidence could fall after mistakes and encouraged him to focus on the mental side of pitching. Morejón initially hesitated before agreeing to try coaching.What were Morejón’s 2026 regular-season statistics?
The report says he finished the regular season with a 2.83 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while pitching a career-high 86 innings.Will Morejón pitch in NLDS Game 3?
He is expected to have a major role after sitting out Game 2, but his exact assignment has not been confirmed in the supplied report. Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Petco Park.Source: google-trends
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