The Padres have the best bullpen in baseball, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday.
By late Sunday afternoon, when David Morgan finished off the Padres’ series-clinching victory in the East Village, Cora’s words resonated.
Padres relievers overwhelmed several Boston hitters. They struck out 14 Sox on Saturday and six more on Sunday, leading the home team to a series win.
Cora doesn’t toss around superlatives on a whim. He was bench coach for the 2017 Houston Astros team that won the franchise’s first World Series title. A year later, he led the Sox to 108 wins and the trophy as a rookie manager.
Following the 6-2 defeat Sunday, Cora mentioned it once again. The Padres, he said, have MLB’s best bullpen.
What was it, Cora was asked, that most impressed him about Padres relievers in this series?
He smiled and checked his watch. Joking, he implied he might not have time to catch the team bus.
“Good fastballs. Good secondary pitches. Aggressive in the zone. Swing-and-miss stuff. Fastballs with hop. Sinkers with horizontal movements,” said Cora, whose team was facing the Padres for the first time.
“They expand with their offspeed pitches. They’re really good.”
Cora praised his own bullpen, too, and ranked it among the sport’s top few.
Then the two-time champion went big-picture.
In October, he noted, pitchers get more rest. The implication: the postseason format will enable the Padres’ high-octane bullpen — and Cora’s own formidable crew — to bring even higher heat.
“Obviously, in October that’s going to be very interesting with the off-days and all that,” he said. “You’ve got a good bullpen, you can play that game too.”
In other years, the Padres had very good bullpens.
Several fell short of the World Series. None won the trophy.
The enormous stress loads that a high-velocity pitcher’s elbow ligaments must bear argue against looking too far ahead.
But Sunday, the Padres climbed to within two games of the Dodgers in the race for the National League West title and a possible first-round playoff bye. L.A. holds some edges over the Padres, but the bullpen isn’t one of them.
The Padres have never drawn from a bullpen with as many high-velocity pitchers as the current group.
Take Morgan, for example. He’s sixth in the bullpen’s pecking order, but has the explosive pitches of many late-inning standouts, some of them closers.
“It’s a very talented bullpen,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “They’re aggressive, they challenge the zone.”
Adrian Morejon #50 of the San Diego Padres pitches in the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Petco Park on Aug. 10, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Shildt singled out the relievers’ preparation, calling it elite.
“The other intangibles are on display, that are really a shining example of what’s right with successful major league players,” he said.
Starting pitcher Dylan Cease’s magnificent right arm was on display Sunday, too.
Cease was the game’s top performer. He controlled a mixture of explosive pitches, leading to six scoreless, mostly efficient innings before he faltered in the seventh.
Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth noted that Cease has the big leagues’ best whiff rate — hitters not connecting on 34% of their swings against him — despite being a starting pitcher. That’s ridiculous, Cronenworth pointed out.
Cease’s pitches Sunday ranged from 79.7 mph to 99.4 mph. The Sox whiffed on 15 of 39 swings against him.
“His slider was the game-changer,” said Cora.
Dylan Cease #84 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Boston Red Sox at Petco Park on Aug. 10, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Cease said he has also become more comfortable with his knuckle-curve. He began the game Sunday with one of those, setting a tone.
Reminder: A.J. Preller got Cease for almost free, obtaining him in March 2024 via a trade. None of the players Preller sent to the White Sox have panned out.
Following the All-Star break, Cease has brought more accuracy and variety to his game. Several relievers continue to clock at or near 100 mph, and set-up ace Jason Adam continues to mix four different pitches, keeping hitters off balance.
Newcomer Mason Miller’s fastball lives in a triple-digit world.
The Santa Ana winds haven’t yet arrived in San Diego, but Padres opponents are feeling the heat. The Padres’ pitchers are a heat wave unto themselves.
Originally Published: August 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM PDT