Padres notes: Andrés Muñoz thrives in return to Petco Park; Adrián Morejón to start rehab assignment

At this point, Andrés Muñoz, even after losing most of 2020 and all of 2021 during a slow recovery from Tommy John surgery, has spent far more time in the Mariners’ clubhouse than in the Padres’. Even with few familiar faces remaining at Petco Park, the 23-year-old right-hander had the trip circled on the calendar. This is, after all, where he made his major league debut.

“I’m always going to remember this place,” Muñoz said. “It’s special. It’s good to be back.”

Especially given the circumstances.

Pitching at Petco Park for the first time since 2019, Muñoz stranded two runners in the sixth inning on a 102.5 mph fastball that blew away Manny Machado, one of the few remaining familiar faces during Muñoz’s rookie season with the Padres. He allowed an inherited run to score on CJ Abrams’ sacrifice fly to left and walked a batter before striking out Machado to end the sixth and fanning Jake Cronenworth and Eric Hosmer in a scoreless seventh in the Padres’ 6-2 loss on Tuesday.

Like Machado, Hosmer saw Munoz’s stuff up-close when he regularly flashed a triple-digits fastball while striking out 30 over 23 innings (3.91 ERA) as a 20-year-old rookie in 2019. The Padres’ first baseman fouled off two 101 mph fastballs before swinging through a 90 mph slider to end a seven-pitch battle.

“He’s got a lot better control of his slider now,” Hosmer said Tuesday afternoon. “You can definitely tell he’s got more of the plan. He’s not just up there with stuff. He’s pitching with the stuff now, so it was definitely a tough at-bat.

“He’s a guy that we had over here. He’s gone through some injuries, so it’s good to see him healthy like that but he definitely did well against us today.”

The next spring after his rookie season, the Padres announced Muñoz would undergo Tommy John surgery as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the season into hibernation. The team was pushing for a playoff spot later that summer when Muñoz was packaged with Ty France, Luis Torrens and Taylor Trammell in a deal that netted catcher Austin Nola and relievers Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla.

“It was weird, but I was excited for the opportunity (with Seattle),” said Muñoz, who has 48 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings (3.41 ERA) this year. “I understand it’s a business.”

Muñoz has since signed a four-year, $7.5 million deal that bought out three arbitration years and includes club options for his first three years of free agency.

France (elbow), Torrens (shoulder) and Trammell (hamstring) are currently on the Mariners’ 10-day injured list, although France’s breakout season (10 HRs, .867 OPS) has him vying with the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the start at first base for the AL All-Star team later this month.

Meantime, Nola is hitting .233/.301/.302 after going 0-for-3 on Tuesday, Adams is on the 60-day injured list with a forearm strain and Altavilla is on the injured list at Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, Mass.

Notable

• LHP Adrián Morejón (shoulder) left the team Tuesday morning to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso at Sugar Land. He remains an option to rejoin the bullpen before the All-Star break.
• The second phase of All-Star voting began Tuesday, exclusively at MLB.com, and will conclude at 10:59 a.m. Friday. 3B Manny Machado led Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado in the first round, 2.4 million votes to 1.6 million, but the vote tally is reset for the final round. The All-Star starters will be announced 4 p.m. Friday on ESPN with the rest of the rosters announced Sunday.
• Former Padres President and CEO Larry Lucchino and former broadcaster Ted Leitner will be inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame before Thursday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. The ceremony will start at 6:25 p.m.
• DFA’d over the weekend, INF Sergio Alcántara was reclaimed by the Diamondbacks.