Cora doesn\u2019t toss around superlatives on a whim.\u00a0He was bench coach for the 2017 Houston Astros team that won the franchise\u2019s first World Series title. A year later, he led the Sox to 108 wins and the trophy as a rookie manager.<\/p>\n
Following the 6-2 defeat Sunday, Cora mentioned it once again. The Padres, he said, have MLB\u2019s best bullpen.<\/p>\n
What was it, Cora was asked, that most impressed him about Padres relievers in this series?<\/p>\n
He smiled and checked his watch. Joking, he implied he might not have time to catch the team bus.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood fastballs. Good secondary pitches. Aggressive in the zone. Swing-and-miss stuff. Fastballs with hop. Sinkers with horizontal movements,\u201d said Cora, whose team was facing the Padres for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey expand with their offspeed pitches. They\u2019re really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cora praised his own bullpen, too, and ranked it among the sport\u2019s top few.<\/p>\n
Then the two-time champion went big-picture.<\/p>\n
In October, he noted, pitchers get more rest.\u00a0The implication: the postseason format will enable the Padres\u2019 high-octane bullpen \u2014 and Cora\u2019s own formidable crew \u2014 to bring even higher heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, in October that\u2019s going to be very interesting with the off-days and all that,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got a good bullpen, you can play that game too.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other years, the Padres had very good bullpens.<\/p>\n
Several fell short of the World Series. None won the trophy.<\/p>\n
The enormous stress loads that a high-velocity pitcher\u2019s elbow ligaments must bear argue against looking too far ahead.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n
The Padres have never drawn from a bullpen with as many high-velocity pitchers as the current group.<\/p>\n
Take Morgan, for example.\u00a0He\u2019s sixth in the bullpen\u2019s pecking order, but has the explosive pitches of many late-inning standouts, some of them closers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very talented bullpen,\u201d Padres manager Mike Shildt said. \u201cThey\u2019re aggressive, they challenge the zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Adrian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-padres-0811-021.jpg\")
Adrian Morejon\u00a0#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)<\/p>\n
Shildt singled out the relievers\u2019 preparation, calling it elite.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other intangibles are on display, that are really a shining example of what\u2019s right with successful major league players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Starting pitcher Dylan Cease\u2019s magnificent right arm was on display Sunday, too.<\/p>\n
Cease was the game\u2019s top performer. He controlled a mixture of explosive pitches, leading to six scoreless, mostly efficient innings before he faltered in the seventh.<\/p>\n
Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth noted that Cease has the big leagues\u2019 best whiff rate \u2014 hitters not connecting on 34% of their swings against him \u2014 despite being a starting pitcher. That\u2019s ridiculous, Cronenworth pointed out.<\/p>\n
Cease\u2019s pitches Sunday ranged from 79.7 mph to 99.4 mph. The Sox whiffed on 15 of 39 swings against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis slider was the game-changer,\u201d said Cora.<\/p>\n
![\"Dylan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-padres-0811-001.jpg\")
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)<\/p>\n
Cease said he has also become more comfortable with his knuckle-curve. He began the game Sunday with one of those, setting a tone.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Newcomer Mason Miller\u2019s fastball lives in a triple-digit world.<\/p>\n
The Santa Ana winds haven\u2019t yet arrived in San Diego, but Padres opponents are feeling the heat. The Padres\u2019 pitchers are a heat wave unto themselves.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: August 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Padres have the best bullpen in baseball, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday. By late…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1370,1266,3549,1306,7264,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-135803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-san-diego-padres","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115007690117234329","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}