Padres relievers try to move on after losing Jason Adam for the season

Jason Adam walked through the clubhouse doors on Tuesday afternoon on crutches. He did not even reach his locker before Jackson Merrill stopped what he was doing, walked across the room and gave the 34-year-old veteran a hug.

A day after Adam crumpled on the mound while trying to field a comebacker, the Padres are still processing how they will move on. An MRI on Tuesday confirmed that a ruptured left quad tendon will end his season. He is expected to undergo surgery on Wednesday and then begin a six- to nine-month rehab that “should put me in a good spot for next year,” Adam said.

Again, that’s next year.

The more immediate concern is what the strength of the Padres looks like without one of their three All-Star relievers. Toward that end, relievers met Tuesday afternoon as the coaching staff looked to provide clarity in the immediate aftermath of losing the team’s holds leader.

“It’s going to be game to game,” Padres bullpen coach Ben Fritz said. “It’s still fluid and still finding the best matchups and maximizing guys’ … rest. You get to September … it’s go time, but (rest) is a big part of our decision-making. Maximizing who’s fresh and running our best guys out there.

“Still think we’re going to run that same operation with the personnel we have now.”

That personnel now includes right-hander Alek Jacob, the active-roster replacement after Adam was placed on the 15-day injured list. He, Sean Reynolds and Kyle Hart comprise the Padres’ low-leverage options, with one of them seemingly the choice to be sent back to Triple-A El Paso when the Padres next need a fifth starter.

The trade for Mason Miller gave the Padres five clear late-and-close options. They have four now in Miller, Jeremiah Estrada, Adrián Morejón and closer Robert Suarez and will clearly be looking for the likes of David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui to force themselves into that mix over the last month of the season.

Adam’s 29 holds are tied for second in the majors and his 1.93 ERA is the 10th-lowest in baseball. But the Padres have baseball’s best relief unit (3.11 ERA) because Morejón’s 1.87 ERA is fifth-lowest in the game, because Estrada is tied for fifth with 27 holds, because Suarez leads the NL with 35 saves and because Miller has struck out 19 in 11 innings (1.64 ERA) since joining the fold.

Morgan has been forcing his way up the depth chart (2.81 ERA in 41 ⅔ innings), and veterans Peralta and Matsui both have experience in the back end of games.

“There’s no doubt we have good arms,” Fritz said. “You can’t replace Jason, but we have very good options and there’s no doubt they all have the right mentality. Jason’s a good person. He’s obviously a good pitcher. It sucks, but we have a good group. A deep group and we’ll be fine.

“Guys will step up and pick up his innings, no doubt.”

Notable

RHP Michael King came out of Monday’s bullpen session physically fine, Padres manager Mike Shildt said. He is expected to throw another bullpen before the Padres determine when he returns to the rotation.