Padres fans witnessed historic Jason Adam season before quad injury kept him sidelined

When the San Diego Padres traded for reliever Jason Adam last year, I'm not quite sure how prepared everyone was for him to be one of the top arms in baseball. The Friars acquired the veteran journeyman in his age-32 season, making his stop with San Diego his fifth team to suit up for.

Adam had never been an All-Star in his career up to that point, nor ever quite considered one of the best relievers in the game. Then, Adam came over to the Padres and completely flipped the script on his career. In his short stint with San Diego in 2024, he dialed up a 1.01 ERA in 27 appearances, followed by a dominant NLDS against the Dodgers when he produced three scoreless outings.

There was a lot to be excited surrounding Jason Adam in 2025, and yet, I still don't think we all were expecting him to be this good. Adam became a first-time All-Star, but unfortunately missed the entire final month of the regular season due to a quad injury mid-game. This slammed the door shut on what could have been considered a historic season for a tenured reliever.

Jason Adam's 2025 season with the Padres should not be forgotten

Adam produced 29 holds this past season, falling 12 short of tying the National League all-time record. Did Adam actually have a shot at 41? A dozen holds is a long way away, but he did rally for nine holds in April, and then seven more in July, so he very well could have come close.

Even though he may have come up short, let's not forget who we are talking about here. Adam, seemingly overnight (or within just a few short months), became the most reliable arm among the game's premier bullpen.

Of his 65 appearances, 55 were scoreless (85 percent!). He went on some serious scoreless streaks, too. From July 21-August 23, Adam registered 14-straight scoreless outings. From May 12-June 2, he racked up 11-straight scoreless appearances.

Of the 10 appearances he allowed a run, six were one-run outings, and the other four were two-run efforts. He never coughed up three-plus runs.

His final numbers for 2025 were highlighted by a 1.93 ERA, 2.4 bWAR, 8-4 record, and elite metrics in xERA and xBA. His season can easily be forgotten among Padres lore, which would obviously be trumped by Trevor Hoffman's Hall of Fame career, Robert Suarez's recent mass production of saves, and now, Mason Miller taking over the game as probably the best reliever.

Adam may not deserve to be in the conversation with those guys at the end of the day, but his 2025 season should be heralded. It's one of the greatest first-time All-Star campaigns from a 30-plus-year-old reliever we'll ever see. Hats off to Adam for a dream season that many did not see coming.