Padres closer Mason Miller is so dominant right now, Jim Bowden from The Athletic is predicting he’s already locked in the NL Relief Pitcher of the Year award. Forget debates, forget a tight race, Bowden flat out says this award is Miller’s. Honestly, after seeing his numbers, it’s hard to argue otherwise. This guy is putting on an absolute clinic in the National League, and it’s making everyone else look like they’re playing a different game.
Unhittable Firepower and Unbelievable Numbers
This dude is on another level, no joke. Bowden called Miller “the most dominant reliever in baseball,” and the stats back it up hard. Miller leads all NL relievers with a microscopic 0.96 ERA. Let that sink in for a second: less than one earned run per nine innings for a closer. He’s been nearly perfect, converting 32 of 33 save opportunities this season. That’s clutch, plain and simple.
But it’s not just the ERA and the saves. Miller is just nasty out there. He’s punched out a ridiculous 102 hitters in only 56 1/3 innings pitched across 54 outings. That’s a K-rate that would make most starters jealous. His pitch arsenal is unfair, too. We’re talking a 100+ mph fastball that batters just can’t catch up to, plus a “wipeout slider” that Bowden straight up calls “nearly unhittable.” And just when you think you might get a read, he drops in a changeup to keep everyone guessing. With a 3.1 bWAR and a bonkers 421 ERA+, his dominance is off the charts. His 0.87 WHIP just adds to the legend.
Nobody Else Is Even Close
Look, there are other good relievers in the National League, no doubt. Jhoan Duran of the Philadelphia Phillies is one of baseball’s best closers, with 28 saves on 30 attempts and a solid 1.71 ERA. And Riley O’Brien, he leads the league in saves, which is cool. But the source makes it clear: Miller is in “a different league.” The gap between Miller and everyone else is just massive right now.
The consensus is that no other reliever in the NL even deserves this award. It would take a “monumental collapse” from Miller and a “perfect September” from Duran for Miller to even have a chance of losing it. But based on what we’ve seen all season, that’s not happening. Miller is the “only real contender,” and he’s going to win this thing without much contest, barring some wild, stunning regression. He’s just too good, too dominant, for anyone else to stand a real chance.
So yeah, while the NL MVP race between Shohei Ohtani and Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cy Young debate are still fun to watch, the Relief Pitcher of the Year feels like it’s already over. Mason Miller is putting on a clinic every time he steps on the mound. Get ready to see this dude officially collect his hardware because honestly, who else could even touch it? It’s all his, no doubt.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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