Oakland A's pitcher Mason Miller, shown here in a file photo, will pitch out of the bullpen to start the season (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Mason Miller only needed one month — really, a couple weeks — to ascend from hidden gem to national treasure.
Following one of the most dominant and electrifying runs by a reliever in recent memory, Miller was named the American League’s Reliever of the Month for April, the first of potentially many times the 25-year-old will take home the honor.
Miller finished baseball’s first full month with a 1.26 ERA with 29 strikeouts to four walks across 14 1/3 innings, recording eight saves in eight opportunities. Entering Friday, Miller leads all relievers in K/9 (18.2), K% (53.7%) and fWAR (1.1). The one number that especially stands out, though, is Miller’s FIP — a metric that Miller essentially broke.
FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, is a stat that focuses on what pitchers can control: strikeouts, walks and home runs. Similar to ERA, lower is better. Miller finished April with a FIP of -0.07, the best mark in the league. While it is not mathematically possible to have an ERA below zero, Miller’s combination of high strikeouts, low walks and no home runs pushed the boundaries of FIP’s formula.
Miller, who has already thrown 97 pitches of at least 100 mph, has had no shortage of highlights, but there’s one sequence that stands above the rest.
On April 22, Miller entered the ninth inning with the A’s leading the Yankees by two runs. He’d need to go through the heart of the Yankees’ order to record the save: Anthony Volpe, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Miller proceeded to strike out the side — all swinging, all on pitches that topped 102 mph — to shut the door.
Miller spearheads a bullpen that has quietly been one of baseball’s best, a unit that also includes set-up man Lucas Erceg, Mitch Spence and T.J. McFarland, among other arms. Entering Friday, the A’s are tied with the Yankees for best bullpen ERA (2.45). Oakland’s relievers are also third in FIP (3.13) and fWAR (1.7), as well as fourth in left on base percentage (76.9%).
Miller becomes Oakland’s first reliever to win the award since Lou Trivino in June 2021. The Cardinals’ Ryan Helsely was the National League’s recipient.
Originally published at Justice delos Santos