Oakland Athletics reliever Mason Miller could be the best closer in all of MLB and a few eye-popping stats suggest this is only the beginning for the hard-throwing right-hander.
On Saturday, he completed his 10th save in as many tries on the year, striking out the side in a 3-1 A’s victory over the Houston Astros.
For Miller, it was his fifth recorded save in which he struck out every batter he faced. He is now only four appearances away from tying the single-season record of nine, set by Edwin Diaz of the Seattle Mariners in 2018, per Stathead.
With already five such games under his belt, Miller is also close to overtaking several Hall of Famers in the stat, including Lee Smith (7), Dennis Eckersley (8), Mariano Rivera (9) and Trevor Hoffman (15). Only 13 pitchers have more than 10 career saves while striking out the side, with Baltimore Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel, the current leader with 34.
Miller’s incredible numbers are impressive on their own, but he has also shown another promising trait that doesn’t appear on a stat sheet.
Before shutting down the Astros on Saturday, Miller suffered a hiccup in his previous appearance, giving up three earned runs in Thursday’s game against the Colorado Rockies after entering a 4-4 tie in the 10th inning. All great closers are able to shake off a bad outing and return even stronger the next time out and Miller proved capable of returning to form on Saturday.
There’s no telling what’s in store for the 25-year-old. After such a small sample size, it’s simply too early to say if Miller will go on to have a long and successful career.
In his first season as a closer, though, he’s arguably the best in the league at his position. Furthermore, with the skills and mindset he has already shown, the sky could be the limit for Miller.
