Talking with … Padres rookie reliever and San Diego native David Morgan

Padres reliever David Morgan, a San Diego native, signed with his hometown team in 2022 as an undrafted free agent.  He made his MLB debut on May 26th against the Miami Marlins, throwing 2/3 of an inning without allowing a run.

Morgan attended Orange Coast College, where he grew close with coach John Altobelli. Altobelli, his wife Keri, and his daughter, Alyssa, died in the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash in January 2020. Morgan later transferred to NAIA’s Hope International University, where he transitioned from shortstop to pitcher. Since reaching the majors, Morgan has been a valuable addition to the Padres’ bullpen, posting a 1.80 ERA over 30 innings and increasingly being used in higher-leverage situations.

The Union-Tribune spoke with Morgan about his baseball journey, his connection to San Diego — and the unlikely path that led him to the mound:

Were you born in San Diego?

A: Yes, I was born here in Rancho Peñasquitos. My parents met here when they were 15 or 16 and started dating, so my whole family is from here. We moved to Orange County when I was pretty young. I went to high school up there and stayed up there, but all my friends lived down here and went to college down here, so I kind of was back and forth all the time. Like our family events, Christmas, Thanksgiving, everything was down here. So, kind of like my first and second home, back and forth between here and Orange County.

So you grew up a San Diego sports fan?

A: Yeah, Padres and Chargers. I’m still a Charger fan. I know they left, but I’m still a Charger fan. But yeah, Padre fan my whole life. I grew up coming to this stadium.

Who were the players you loved watching as a kid?

A: Obviously Trevor Hoffman, Khalil Greene. That group of guys was pretty cool. I was a shortstop. Pitched a little bit when I was little, so I loved Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman. And LT (LaDainian Tomlinson) was my favorite athlete outside of baseball. I loved him. The visor on his helmet, that whole thing.

You went to Mission Viejo High School, then Orange Coast College. That was where you met Coach Altobelli. Did you believe at that point that this was your path to playing professionally one day?

A: Yeah, 100%. I came in there and (Altobelli) told me right away, he’s like, ‘Dude, we can get you drafted out of here.’ Kind of boosted my confidence in going there. I drew some faith in them and decided to commit there. I was a shortstop. I played third base my first year there, because I was the only freshman and that was an open spot, then played shortstop. I had some free agent deals my first year, but I wanted to commit to a big school and get drafted in a higher round, so I didn’t sign as a shortstop as a free agent.

And then obviously the COVID thing kind of shut everything down. I was committed to Oregon at the time when COVID hit. So I left and went back to OCC and then, because I did a double-transfer thing, committed to Kansas State after that, after my second year. Then the NCAA deemed me ineligible to play because I was at a junior college for three years as a student; which, you have to sit out for a year. That’s why I ended up at my NAIA and started pitching a little bit. I was in summer ball, and the Kansas State coaches called me and they’re like, ‘Hey, we just found out that you took too many units at your junior college.’ … So I had to leave. They were like, ‘You can sit out a year and come back and play the next year, or you can play somewhere else and maybe come back the year after that.’ I was like, ‘I have to play this year.’ So I went to an NAIA.

How did Altobelli impact your career?

A: I had a lot of stuff going on in my life at that point, and baseball was kind of like my vice. (Altobelli) told me I could be a big-league shortstop, big-league third baseman, whatever. I never pitched, so he never pushed me as a pitcher. But he impacted me in every way possible. He changed my work ethic and the way I viewed how to go about my day, every single day, at the field. I learned how to be a leader because of him. And it wasn’t until after he passed, and a couple years after that, where … my coach (at Hope International University) told me, ‘Hey, get off the mound a little bit, maybe boost your draft stock.’ So I started pitching a little bit, not even thinking I was going to sign as a pitcher, just kind of as, ‘Hey, I have a good arm’ type of thing. And it started turning more heads than I thought, and everyone started calling me about pitching, and it changed my trajectory.

Are you willing to share what was going on in your life that was challenging at that time?

A: Just mental health stuff. Baseball kind of being my vice, COVID taking that away, some relationship issues, all sorts of stuff going on as a young kid who is trying to figure out his path. So just kind of a lot of the uncontrollables of life hit me all at once. I lost Alto. He passed away in the middle of all that. And then baseball got taken away, so I just was lost for a little bit. I didn’t really know what I was going to do. But the way Alto coached me and taught me was to be strong and persevere. So I pushed through all of that, kept playing baseball and made my way here. … (Altobelli) always said before every single practice: ‘Make today the most important day of your life.’ And he lived by that, and then his passing spoke it into existence because he lived that type of life. He showed up with the same energy every day, like it was his last day. And he just kept doing it. The day before he passed away, I talked to him, and he pulled me into a meeting and told me what my future kind of looked like and how he wanted me to be a leader. And then we lost him after that. So that impacted me a lot. Having that conversation with him right before his passing made me feel responsible to go back to Orange Coast and help lead that team to a championship, which we ended up winning. So, yeah, he just made me a better person to persevere through that stuff.

Did his sudden passing affect how you think about the fragility of life?

A: Yeah, 100%. It helps me take a step back when the days are hard and a little lonely. You can kind of take a step back and appreciate where you are. And regardless of where you are, you can appreciate what you have.

You have a tattoo behind your ear with Roman numerals. What does it symbolize?

A: It’s of Altobelli and his daughter, Alyssa, and a player named Jourdan Watanabe. He played at Orange Coast College and he passed away while he was playing there, and he was number 22. So the numbers 5, 14, and 22 for all of them.

Do you ever miss hitting and being part of the infield?

A: I think I missed it up until I got to the big leagues. You kind of come here and you realize that getting in here is pretty hard. I don’t know if I would have been here if I played shortstop. I might not be playing baseball anymore. I might have signed for a lot of money and been a superstar shortstop, but you can never know. So I found my way here as a pitcher.

As a kid in high school, did you think you would make it to the major leagues?

A: A little bit. It was always a dream of mine growing up. … Growing up in high school, I surfed, I skateboarded, I did all these other things. I kind of wanted to be a professional surfer and skateboarder or something like that. My parents said, ‘Hey, you can’t go back to baseball, but you can always go back and surf and do all that stuff.’ So they pushed me to keep going and playing baseball. And that was when I met Alto, and he pushed me even more and made me believe that the big leagues was in my future.

How difficult was the transition from shortstop to pitcher?

A: It wasn’t easy. The transition happened in professional baseball. You know, I threw a couple games here and there at my NAIA. But obviously, the competition’s not the standard that it is here. The first time I really pitched was in professional baseball, so I had to learn quick. I had to keep an open mind. I showed up and I threw hard, and I realized pretty quickly that everyone threw hard and everyone had good stuff. So I just had to keep an open mind and keep learning as much as I possibly could. Every meeting we had, I was taking notes, trying to pick everyone’s brain. Guys who played in the big leagues, coaches who used to play in the big leagues, that was kind of what helped me. Just keep my mind open and try everything possible to make myself the best I could be.

What’s the hardest part about becoming a pitcher at that age and that level?

A: I think just the consistency of it every day. Learning how to have a process, getting ready to throw every day. That was weird to me. Taking care of your arm. The way you eat, the way you sleep. Recovery becomes a little more important as a pitcher. I had to look into my nutrition, my eating habits, sleeping habits, all that stuff. Cutting out alcohol, cutting out whatever it is I need to do to stay healthy and be available. Because availability is huge as a bullpen guy.

When the Padres signed you in 2022, was it as a pitcher?

A: Yeah. I had a couple other teams talking to me that didn’t know I was pitching. They just assumed I was going to be a shortstop. But the relationship I had with the Padres, the type of conversations we had were a little bit more personal. And that reflects in this organization, just full of amazing people and relationships. And because of Alto, I like to make my decisions off relationships. You know, I could commit to a big school or commit somewhere that you can have a relationship with people that you love and people who care about you. And that’s what this organization has been for me since Day 1. I signed as an undrafted free agent, and they treated me like I was just like the rest of them.

Were you discouraged that you weren’t drafted?

A: No, I think it helped me even more. Because from where I was, playing at such a small school, the fact I got to sign at all was huge. And then for it to be the team I grew up a fan of just kind of pushed me, like, ‘OK, this is a sign for me to make the most of this. And if I can play in Petco, then that’s just going to make it all better.’ So every single day, I would appreciate showing up to the complex in Arizona, and I’d see the Padres logo, and I’d sit there and look at it and just be so proud. Like, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to find my way.’

You’ve defied many odds. What have you learned about yourself through these experiences? 

A: It’s proven that I’m not going to back down. I’m appreciative of everything. Every single moment. If I have an opportunity, I’m going to try to make the most of it. This organization has done that for me. Even when the numbers maybe didn’t look the best, they invited me to the Fall League. They invited me to play in the Spring Breakout game. They called me up to Double-A, they pushed me every single step I’ve taken. As soon as I started to get comfortable, as soon as I started to get in the groove of things, they’d call me up somewhere and make me uncomfortable, and they just kept pushing me and pushing me and pushing me. That’s what made me even better — just surrounding me with a lot of competition.

You attack hitters and aren’t afraid to fill up the zone. How did you develop that mindset so early in your career? A lot of pitchers want to pitch that way, but it’s often easier said than done.

A: When I came into this organization, that was the biggest (message) we had. It was throw strikes, fill up the zone. One of the pillars we had was attack the zone, and zone percentage, like, where your stuff is in the zone. And the more I started to do that, the more I started to realize my stuff played in the zone and I could get outs through the zone. I could get strikeouts through the zone. And then I came up here and I was here for a reason, and I just believed that my stuff was good enough to throw it in the zone. Throw strikes and just trust it. Hitting is pretty hard. I know hitting is pretty hard. I know I have good stuff, so just leave it out on the table and just compete.

Best big-league perk? 

A: Probably the food compared to the minor leagues. The food and the travel.

What are your favorite San Diego spots?

A: I think Mission Beach and Ocean Beach. I kind of like the hippies, the skateboarders, the surfers, all the locals out there. That’s where I like to be.

Do you ever surf anymore? 

A: Yeah, I do.

Any other surfers inside the clubhouse?

A: Yeah, we got a bunch of dudes that surf. Joe (Musgrove). I know Jason (Adam) wants to start learning. We have trainers and doctors that work here that surf. Our chefs, they surf. They all want to go out at some point, so we’ll all go out together.