by Ryan Novak ’29
The Petco Park lights dim as the first notes of “Blind” by Korn hit you like a warning siren. Fans rise and take out their phones before they even see the reaper leave his lair. His presence fills the whole stadium. Every breath, step, and pitch is watched and analyzed to perfection, as many try to understand his pure dominance. The energy shifts from anticipation to utmost certainty in San Diego. The man summoned out of the San Diego Padres’ bullpen every night is Mason Miller, the ultimate underdog, and statistically, the best closing pitcher in Major League Baseball.
In a league that is filled with dominant relievers and late-innings specialists, it can be extremely difficult to stand out, but not for Miller. When it comes to stats, Miller is currently ranked number 1 by ESPN. This is definitely true, because when compared to the number two closer in the league, Riley O’Brien of the Cardinals, the reaper blows him out of the water. With fewer innings pitched, Miller has more saves and a perfect save percentage at 100%, while O’Brien is sitting at 83.3%. Along with this, Miller has the lower Earned Run Average at 1.10, and O’Brien’s is double that at 2.12. Along with ESPN stating that he is the best, New York Times writer Jayson Stark agrees. “We are watching the most unhittable pitcher who ever lived,” Stark wrote. “Period.” While Mason Miller is clearly number one, he wasn’t always at the top of the podium.
Miller faced and overcame many challenges throughout his life to get where is today, yet another reason why we should appreciate him Playing high school baseball, Miller was anything but a superstar, he went undrafted, threw in the mid 80’s and committed to the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets, a local DIII school right outside of Pittsburgh.
Throughout his life, Miller was overlooked for his baseball skills, posting a 7.03 ERA as a freshman in college. He was also diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, which definitely didn’t help his case. “It was scary learning about how to manage diabetes,” Miller said. But, if there is one thing about Miller, it is that he never gives up. After his diagnosis, he figured it out, using a new diet to help him bulk up and add significant velocity to his fastball. Even with all this, it still wasn’t enough to get looks from MLB scouts.
Luckily, he was able to get an extra season of eligibility due to COVID-19, and he used this golden opportunity to transfer to Garner-Webb in North Carolina, where he absolutely dominated on the bump, so much so that he got drafted in the third round in 2021 by the Oakland Athletics. The life story of Miller helps demonstrate what kind of person he is: a grinder who will do whatever it takes to be the absolute best.
While I obviously believe that Mason Miller is the best closing pitcher in the league, there are many other baseball experts that completely agree with me. When asked who the best closer in baseball is, baseball journalist R.J. Anderson from CBS Sports said, “You have to give that title to Mason Miller right now.” In addition to this, Ryan Phillips from Sports Illustrated also agreed when they said, “Miller isn’t just baseball’s best closer, he might be the game’s most dominant pitcher.” While these sources know a lot about pitching, neither of them knows it as well as Hall of Fame pitcher Trevor Hoffman, who played for the Padres for 16 years and posted a 2.51 ERA during that time. According to Hoffman, Miller is “The most unhittable pitcher ever.” With so many people who have elite baseball knowledge saying that Miller is the best closing pitcher, it’s clear that the reaper is absolutely elite at pitching.
While Mason Miller is the best closing pitcher in the league, he can’t do everything for the San Diego Padres. Currently, they are in a scuffle, going 4-6 in their last 10. But the Padres are going for the home sweep with their upcoming home games against the equally matched Cardinals. And Craig Stammen, the Padres manager, is without a doubt going to call the lair to summon the Grim Reaper.
