Padres notes: Dylan Cease trending in right direction; David Morgan returns

Dylan Cease scattered six hits. He walked two batters. Two more runners reached base via errors, including one on a high throw of his own.

But Cease allowed just one run during his five innings in the final start of what even he would call a disappointing walk year.

But the year’s not over yet.

“At the end of the day, we’re here to try to win a World Series,” Cease said after the Padres’ 3-1 loss to the Brewers on Wednesday. “So if we do that, I’m going to feel very good about my year.”

He’d hardly be the first free agent to parlay postseason success into a big payday. He also flirts with triple-digit heat, has a wipeout slider and has more strikeouts (1,106) since the start of 2021 than any other pitcher in the majors, so he’s going to make money this offseason.

More pressing, of course, is how he’s performing now.

Five innings of one-run ball on Wednesday put a bow on a solid September (3.12 ERA) that pushed his season ERA down to 4.55. That’s still more than a run above last year’s mark (3.47 ERA), when he finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting, but Cease is at least moving in the right direction after posting a 5.67 ERA in July and a 4.94 ERA in August.

“I had a pretty down year, but I feel like I’m finishing pretty strong,” said Cease, who struck out eight to push his final total to 215, tied with Jake Peavy’s 2006 campaign for the eighth most in franchise history. “I like where I’m at and we’re in it. That’s all that really matters.”

Morgan returns

Rookie reliever David Morgan was activated from the injured list before the game and replaced Cease in the sixth inning, striking out a batter and walking a batter while topping out at 99.3 mph in a scoreless frame. Catcher Freddy Fermín threw out Jake Bauers attempting to steal second to erase Morgan’s lone base runner.

Morgan was placed on the 15-day injured list after the team’s last trip to Coors Field as he was feeling a little “baggy” after pushing nearly 60 innings between his time in the minors and majors. Morgan took two days off from throwing before working toward getting ready for the postseason.

With Jason Adam lost for the season to a ruptured quad tendon, the Padres had been counting on Morgan graduating into at least the fringes of what remains of their victory formation (Jeremiah Estrada, Adrián Morejón, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez).

Morgan’s 2.74 ERA is the eighth-lowest among all rookie relievers with at least 40 innings.

Notable

• Xander Bogaerts beat out an infield single in the seventh inning, his first hit since coming off the injured list on Tuesday — although he was robbed of a three-run homer to center in the first inning. Bogaerts played nine innings in both games and is 1-for-8 since returning from the fracture in his left foot. Bogaerts committed a throwing error on Wednesday, but he also made several impressive plays in the field. “I thought he looked fantastic,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
• Reliever Ron Marinaccio was optioned to the Arizona Complex League to make room for Morgan’s return from the injured list. Because he cannot return before 15 days unless he’s replacing an injured pitcher, Marinaccio is ineligible to return until Game 4 of the NLDS. Marinaccio has allowed one run in 10⅔ innings this year in the majors.