Padres Keep Yuki Matsui and Kyle Hart in Place for 2027 Bullpen

The Padres have two more bullpen spots settled for 2027, with very different cases behind each decision. San Diego exercised its $2.5 million club option on Kyle Hart, and left-hander Yuki Matsui chose not to use his opt-out, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Hart is under team control for 2027; Matsui retains a $7 million player option for 2028. Together, the moves secure two experienced relievers while leaving San Diego with different questions about how much each can contribute. The options also make the club’s immediate bullpen picture clearer as it works through larger roster needs.

Matsui’s results come with a caveat

Matsui’s decision keeps a productive, durable reliever in San Diego, though his 2026 numbers may overstate what to expect next. Across three seasons with the Padres, he has logged 190 innings with a 3.17 ERA and a 25.1% strikeout rate. He has thrown at least 62 2/3 innings each season, with just one stint on the 15-day injured list: a month-long absence early this year because of a groin strain. His innings total ranks 20th among qualified relievers since 2024. That workload gives the club a useful measure of reliability in a role where availability can be difficult to count on from year to year. For a bullpen, repeatable innings have value even when they don’t come from a closer.

His latest season was his best by ERA: Matsui posted a 1.83 mark, cut his home run rate to fewer than one per nine innings and struck out 26.2% of hitters. He did that without standout velocity, limiting hard contact instead. Statcast placed his 86.8 mph average exit velocity in the 90th percentile and his 30.5% hard-hit rate in the 95th. That combination helps explain why his results were so strong: hitters didn’t square him up often, and fewer damaging balls in play meant fewer chances for extra-base hits. It’s a skill set that can travel from one season to another, but it doesn’t erase the need to examine how he reached that ERA.

Those surface numbers hide some risk. Matsui’s 3.02 expected ERA and 4.17 SIERA were less flattering, and his walk rate climbed for a third straight year, reaching 13.8%—the third percentile, according to Statcast. He also benefited from a .204 batting average on balls in play, well below the major-league mark of .290, and stranded 93.6% of runners. That rate was more than 20 percentage points above the league average. The concern isn’t that these measures prove a collapse is coming; they show that his run prevention depended on several outcomes that are difficult to count on repeating together. If the walks persist while more balls find holes, his ERA could rise even if his contact management remains effective.

My read is that the underlying indicators point toward a capable middle reliever, with an ERA more likely in the mid-to-high 3.00s if his batted-ball luck normalizes. That’s a meaningful step down from a 1.83 ERA, but it would still leave him useful in a middle-relief role. Staying put gives Matsui a chance to improve his position with a stronger 2027 season before deciding whether to exercise the $7 million option the following year. The approaching lockout adds another reason to value the security of his current arrangement. It’s a sensible choice for a pitcher who has delivered steady innings, even if his latest results invite some skepticism.

Matsui and fellow left-hander Wandy Peralta are set to handle middle-relief work for San Diego. That gives the club some continuity as it looks to rebuild its rotation and tries to re-sign premium left-hander Adrian Morejon. Two left-handers with established roles can help shape how the rest of the bullpen is assembled, though their presence doesn’t answer every roster question. The Padres still need to determine how the rotation takes shape and what happens with Morejon. If you’re tracking the club’s offseason, those unresolved decisions will matter more than treating these two moves as a finished bullpen.

Hart offers a ground-ball counterpoint

Picking up Hart’s option is less predictable. The 33-year-old, who turns 34 later this month, will earn more than twice his 2026 salary despite finishing the season with a 4.92 ERA over 64 innings. He mostly worked in relief, with a handful of opener appearances, after rejoining San Diego last offseason on a $1.2 million guarantee following a brief period as a free agent. The option is therefore a clear increase in cost relative to that guarantee, and the decision rests on whether the underlying performance gives the club enough reason to expect improvement. His age and earned-run total make this a more qualified bet than Matsui’s retention.

The ERA doesn’t tell the whole story. Hart raised his strikeout rate to 22.0% and generated ground balls on 51.7% of balls in play. His 3.63 expected ERA and 3.94 SIERA both suggested better results were possible, and his 3.63 FIP supported that view. Hart also ranked in the 95th percentile for hard-hit rate, even as he continued to give up too many runs on the scoreboard. Those indicators point to a pitcher who can limit dangerous contact and keep the ball on the ground, traits that can reduce some of the damage from mistakes. They don’t guarantee a lower ERA, particularly when the gap between his actual results and the estimates was substantial.

He’s a modest bet, but the profile gives San Diego a low-cost arm with useful ground-ball and contact-management skills. Matsui, Peralta and Hart combined for 1.4 fWAR this year and are set to cost the Padres $13.45 million in 2027. Those figures describe a relatively contained commitment to a defined group of relievers, though they don’t tell us how much the trio will improve the club’s overall performance. The numbers here are underwhelming as a measure of past value; the case for the moves rests more on availability, role clarity and the possibility that Hart’s results improve.

What the decisions mean for the bullpen

For San Diego, the immediate gain is a bullpen base that’s easier to plan around. Matsui supplies a track record of workload, Peralta adds another left-handed option, and Hart offers a different route to outs through ground balls and contact management. And yet, a settled group of returning arms isn’t the same as a settled bullpen: performance can shift, and the club still has larger roster questions to address. That’s the part most people overlook: these choices create a starting point for roster planning, not a guarantee that the relief corps is finished.

Hart’s option in particular looks like a bet on the gap between results and indicators narrowing, while Matsui’s decision favors continuity and the chance to revisit his value after another season. Neither move resolves the uncertainty around Morejon or the work required to rebuild the rotation. For the Padres, the useful outcome is narrower: two roles are spoken for, and the club can plan the rest of its roster with that much more clarity. A foundation. Whether it becomes a strength will depend on what the pitchers do next.

Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images