Lincoln Zdunich
The San Diego Padres paid an arm and a leg to acquire closer Mason Miller at last year’s Trade Deadline, and the move has repaid itself in full.
Miller has been nearly unhittable since joining the Friars, authoring a 0.61 ERA across 29 2/3 innings. He’s become a cheat code of a pitcher, getting three efficient outs every single time he takes the mound. He’s only allowed eight hits in his entire Padres tenure.
To put his insane numbers in perspective, Miller has almost eight times more strikeouts (61) than hits allowed. He is legitimately on one of the most (if not the most) dominant relief stretch MLB has ever seen. But what makes him that way, and how high really is the ceiling?
An Elite Pitch Mix (With Pinpoint Command)
Miller has a three-pitch mix that primarily uses his fastball and slider with the changeup as a third option. To call it a changeup is ridiculous, but it is. I only say that because it sits at around 95 mph (and that’s most pitchers’ fastball speed).
That number is only a testament to his elite fastball, which averages 101.2 mph. On Thursday night’s walk-off against the Colorado Rockies, he threw a 103.4 four-seamer to Ezequiel Tovar to strike him out for the fastest strikeout pitch in Padres’ regular season history.
But the slider. It would be something if he just had a missile-like fastball, but he follows it up with an 89 mph slider that comes out of the glove looking like a heater and then drops to the bottom of the zone. The batter already swung a full second before the pitch even crossed home plate.
All of this means nothing, however, if not for Miller’s elite command. Plenty of guys can throw the ball hard, but being able to throw that hard and locate in the zone is something special. Doing the same with his slider that has 38.8 inches of vertical drop is just unfair for batter.
So far this season, he has a .790 strike percentage (percentage of pitches thrown in the zone). He has already had multiple near-immaculate innings, which is insane because he’s only had six outings. If not for his second pitch to Willi Castro being a little high, he would have had one on Thursday night.
How Long Could He Remain Scoreless?
Forever?
Kidding … sort of. Obviously, someone will get to him eventually. That’s baseball. He’ll have an off day one of these days and give up a run somehow. It’s part of the game.
But the way it looks right now, Miller may never allow another hitter to cross home plate (let alone get to first base). His scoreless streak is currently at 27 2/3 innings, six innings away from tying the Padres’ record set by Cla Meredith (2006).
Since 2016, only three pitchers have finished with sub-1.00 ERAs: 2016 Zack Britton (0.54 ERA, 67.0 IP), 2018 Blake Treinen (0.78 ERA, 80.1 IP), and 2024 Emmanuel Clase (0.61 ERA, 74.1 IP). No reliever who’s pitched a full season has ever finished with a 0.00 ERA. Tyler Olson holds the record, with 20 scoreless innings pitched in the 2017 season.
Of those four, only Clase managed to garner Cy Young attention, being a top-three finisher in the award. No reliever has won the award since Eric Gagne in 2003. If anyone has a shot at it, it’s Miller.
