Sports

Padres’ flamethrowing relievers evoke memories of the The Nasty Boys

Published

1 month ago

June 29, 2026

SAN DIEGO — Craig Stammen can still picture the poster on the door of his childhood bedroom in Ohio, the one paying tribute to three World Series-winning relievers. Shown towering over Riverfront Stadium were Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers, a Cincinnati Reds trio known as The Nasty Boys.

“I just remember when it got to the seventh inning, the game was over,” Stammen said.

Now the manager of the San Diego Padres, Stammen is overseeing his own formidable bullpen, one featuring a historic back-end duo. Closer Mason Miller is the hardest-throwing right-handed reliever in the big leagues. Set-up man Adrian Morejon, whose average fastball velocity has climbed nearly 2 mph since last season, is the hardest-throwing left-handed reliever.

It’s the first time since at least 2008, when Major League Baseball began comprehensively tracking pitch speeds, that both quantities have resided in the same bullpen. If the lore is correct, it might be the first time since the right-handed Dibble and the left-handed Myers lit up radar guns on their way to postseason glory in 1990.

“Yeah,” Stammen said with a smile, “we got some Nasty Boys.”

The Padres, interested in doubling down on their strength, have considered pursuing another elite reliever ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline. In any event, they already have the sport’s nastiest bullpen arm.

Miller leads the majors in such categories as strikeout rate (51.2 percent), average fastball velocity (101.3 mph) and average miss distance (7.1 inches). He has not allowed an earned run in 30 of his 32 appearances, and one of the exceptions involved an umpire blowing a crucial call.

But Miller’s dominance spans multiple seasons. The last extra-base hit against him came Aug. 5, when Arizona’s Lourdes Gurriel Jr. turned on a 103.9 mph fastball. Less than two months later, Miller established a pair of postseason records, painting the outside corner with a 104.5 mph four-seamer and striking out eight consecutive batters.

Adrian Morejon lets out a shout from the pitching mound.

Adrian Morejon topped out at 101.7 mph earlier this season. (Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Morejon has made a measurable leap. His average fastball velocity (99.4 mph) is noticeably up from last year (97.6 mph). His 3.43 ERA is skewed by a poor-luck April; the lefty has permitted an earned run in only one of his past 21 appearances. According to Pitching+, a metric that judges the quality of a pitcher’s process, no one in the majors is throwing the ball better.

“His stuff is amazing, but he’s pitching. He’s commanding the baseball,” Miller said. “That command is something that you don’t see with a guy that throws that hard, very often.”

Blessed with rare arm talent but previously slowed by injuries, Morejon broke out as a full-time member of the bullpen in 2024. In 2025, he went to his first All-Star Game and threw 100 mph in a game for the first time. Over the offseason, Morejon, 27, focused on strengthening his shoulders and back. The 5-foot-11 reliever came into spring training at a stout 224 pounds.

The result: In his Cactus League debut on March 3, he touched 100 mph. Two weeks later, in another exhibition, he hit 101.2 mph. He has maintained that kind of velocity ever since, topping out at 101.7 mph.

“Morejon is really strong. I think that’s one thing people don’t realize,” said fellow Padres lefty Kyle Hart. “He’s extremely strong, but everything’s just so late, and there’s so much whip, and when you combine that with a high level of strength, you’re going to hit 100. You’re going to hit 101.”

The increased velocity has produced a competition of sorts. With 80 regular-season games left, Miller has thrown 87 pitches of at least 101.7 mph.

“He’s getting pretty close, so I’m getting a little worried,” said Miller, who has reached 103.8 mph this year.

“I’ve got a long way to go until I get to Mason’s miles per hour,” Morejon said through interpreter Jorge Merlos, “but we’re just messing with each other and helping each other along the way.”

The Padres are benefiting, too, and not simply from peak velo.

Miller’s slider, which averages 87.8 mph, is the most devastating weapon in the sport. In 68 at-bats ended by the pitch, opponents have mustered eight singles and struck out 46 times.

Morejon, who introduced a low-90s kick-change a year ago, is throwing that pitch almost 20 percent of the time. This season, it’s yielded just one extra-base hit.

“It takes him to another level because now he’s got an unpredictability of attack,” Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla said. “Not only is it adding another pitch, but he added a really good pitch.”

More additions could be on the way this summer. The Padres survived the past week’s 4-2 homestand against a pair of first-place teams in the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the roster’s lack of starting pitching and offense remains obvious.

Five weeks before the trade deadline, San Diego also could use another high-leverage arm. Morejon is on pace for what would be a career-high 82 innings. Miller has been asked to take down four or more outs in six games. The Padres, according to team sources, continue to eye a still-developing reliever market.

Their list of possible targets includes baseball’s hardest-throwing left-hander over the past 16 seasons. Even if the Padres don’t end up acquiring Aroldis Chapman — who is still touching triple digits at age 38 — the Boston Red Sox closer seems to be making an impact from across the country.

“I have a very good relationship with Chapman, and we’ve been talking a lot,” said Morejon, who, like Chapman, was born in Cuba. “I use him as a reference a lot as well, just in his work ethic and the stuff that he does to get himself prepared for every day.”

For now, the Padres will settle for having the sport’s most dominant bullpen duo — and perhaps the hardest-throwing left-right combination in at least 36 years. When a reporter recently pointed out the potential parallel between Dibble-Myers and Miller-Morejon, a native Ohioan beamed.

“You put a smile on my face bringing that up,” Stammen said. “I’m going to start calling those guys The Nasty Boys.”

Sports

St Mirren 1 – 0 St Johnstone

Published

2 seconds ago

August 9, 2026

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Killian Phillips was on target again to keep St Mirren on top of the Premiership for a second Saturday night.

Phillips followed up his opening-day double at Falkirk with the only goal from the spot as the Paisley side beat visitors St Johnstone.

Goalkeeper Jacob Chapman was the other Buddies hero, saving a spot-kick from Jamie Gullan in the 48th minute.

His opposite number, Toby Steward, had a far less positive influence on proceedings when he conceded the 73rd-minute penalty that settled matters.

The Perth side’s goalkeeper was unaware of the impending presence of Samuel Ramos as he prepared to pick up Declan John’s forward pass and brought down the midfielder when he ran into his path.

Phillips sent Steward the wrong way with the shortest of run-ups to make it two wins from two for Craig McLeish’s side.

Both sides had started their Premiership campaigns with victories and there was little to separate them in the first half.

The only real chance fell for Ramos, who headed Chris Mochrie’s cross straight at Steward. The goalkeeper pushed the ball up in the air and the visitors survived the resultant goalmouth scramble.

Simo Valakari’s side squandered their first serious opportunity, which came after a VAR intervention when referee Ross Hardie ruled Alex Gogic had handled while competing for a throw-in into the box. Chapman dived to his left to stop Gullan’s penalty.

The home side soon lost Marcus Fraser to injury with Liam Donnelly coming on at centre-back.

Gullan looked to make amends when he set up Matty Foulds but the left-back shot just wide on the run.

A double substitution almost paid instant dividends for McLeish as Luke Thomas set up Jake Young to bear down on goal from the left flank. The striker appeared to be held by Cheick Diabate as he shot wide of the far post.

St Mirren got their breakthrough after more attacking play down the left flank and they soon survived a scare when Diabate headed off the post following a corner.

The hosts had a series of shots blocked as they tried to put the game out of sight in the closing stages but they were soon caught on the break and Ruari Paton set up Gullan. The former Hibernian striker lacked conviction though and was foiled by a combination of Steward and Ryan Carr.

St Johnstone kept the pressure on during stoppage time but Young forced a save on the break at the other end and the home side saw out the remaining moments in the opposition half.

What the result means and next fixtures…

Sports

Shergar Cup: Ryan Moore helps Great Britain and Ireland to Ascot crown | Racing News

Published

6 minutes ago

August 9, 2026

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Ryan Moore bagged a Shergar Cup double on his return to the competition following a 20-year absence to help his Great Britain and Ireland team win the team event while he was also crowned leading rider over the six races.

Winner of the Silver Saddle on his last appearance at the team-based meeting in 2006, Moore has usually been required to ride on a Group One card in Ireland.

But with that meeting put back 24 hours he was free to attend and delighted the Ascot crowd.

Team Great Britain and Ireland topped the standings on 81 points from Team Hong Kong in second on 62, with Moore’s individual haul of 47 enough to take the Silver Saddle.

He first struck on Dylan Cunha’s Asgard’s Captain (13-2) who stuck to his task gamely to win the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Challenge by a length and a quarter from Yutake Take on Sportingsilvermine for the Rest of the World.

Moore said: “Dylan did say he could be a little bit lazy, but he has an uncomplicated attitude and to just help him through it and it was straightforward, really.

“It’s great to get Dylan a winner here today and the owners will be delighted as they were all looking forward to it, so it’s a good job the horse has performed today.”

In the penultimate Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Classic, he gave Marco Botti’s Archers Bay (5-2) a textbook ride coming home three-and-a-quarter lengths clear of Christophe Lemaire on King Of Berkshire for Team Europe.

Having run in the Italian Derby earlier in the season, he looked the class act and so it proved.

In the closing Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Mile, Moore finished third on Ozat behind the Frida Valle Skar-ridden Crown Board (10-1), but her Team Europe were not in contention for top honours by then.

Saffie Osborne thrives in the team environment and got her name on the scoresheet when Tim Easterby’s Red Spells Danger justified 2-1 favouritism in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint.

Osborne was leading rider in the Racing League on three occasions and is captaining Moore and Dylan Browne McMonagle in Team Great Britain and Ireland.

She said: “I heard a few people knocking this horse today but I thought the track would really suit and it has. I’m just glad I pulled my finger out.

“Looking at the standard of jockeys here today, it’s amazing – look at our team with Ryan Moore and Ireland’s champion jockey.

“The win for me today is that I made Ryan laugh a couple of times, so I’m quite happy with that!”

Team Hong Kong had earlier set the pace winning the first two races.

Jerry Chau gave them the perfect start when partnering Tuco Salamanca to a clear-cut victory in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Dash.

Representing a team making its Shergar Cup debut, Chau, 26, gave Ollie Sangster’s four-year-old the perfect ride, taking a lead into the final furlong before a gap opened up seamlessly.

Tuco Salamanca (4-1) quickened impressively to beat Gold Star Hero, ridden by Chau’s team-mate Vincent Ho, by a length and a half.

Fandom and Suraj Narredu were third for the Rest of the World.

Chau told Sky Sports Racing: “It felt amazing when I hit the line.

“No words can describe riding a winner at Ascot. I grew up watching Ryan Moore on YouTube. I watched him as much as I could.”

Luke Ferraris did not have to wait long to play his part for Team Hong Kong as after an opening race one-two from his team-mates, he drove home Dancing In Paris to win the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers.

Riding the Ian Williams-trained 17-2 shot, Ferraris came with a late run to collar Moore on Andrew Balding’s Shrimp Shady to win by a length.

Mountain Road was third for Yutake Take and the Rest of the World.

Ferraris said: “That’s phenomenal, he’s a lot fitter than me! He was turned out in great order.

“He didn’t settle as good as he should have, but he still produced a great turn of foot.

“I think I’ve only ridden in one two-mile race in recent years, so it was a bit of a change.

“We’ve a good group of young riders representing Hong Kong, so let’s hope it continues.”