As the baseball world marvels at the spectacle of Mason Miller’s 33 2/3-inning scoreless run of strikeout-laden pitching entering this weekend, let’s not lose sight of why Miller wears Padres brown-and-gold rather than Athletics green-and-gold.
The Padres are all about trying to win the World Series, as soon as possible.
No other big league club in recent years has pursued the trophy with more gusto, if we look at San Diego’s big league payrolls through a small-market lens and the dozens of trades of minor leaguers-for-major leaguers by A.J. Preller since 2020.
The price Preller paid for Miller, an All-Star closer with a triple-digit fastball, further affirmed that, compared with most ballclubs, the Padres esteem a ballplayer’s present value more than his future value.
Shortstop Leo De Vries not only was the franchise’s top prospect, he was one of baseball’s upper-tier prospects.
Are scouts convinced that De Vries will remain at shortstop? Some are not, but the 19-year-old Dominican is an advanced switch-hitter who, surprising nobody, is off to a nice start in Double-A this year, against much older competition.
A’s team-builders led by “Moneyball” star Brad Pitt, um, Billy Beane, had to believe De Vries will outperform big-league salaries as a young player. In turn, the smaller-budget A’s would be more likely to contend for playoff berths.
The Padres loved that they could control Miller through 2029, but Preller certainly envisioned that Miller would help strengthen their bids for the 2025 and 2026 playoffs, at minimum.
So far, the Padres’ evaluation of the closer gets an A+.
Miller’s dominance helped the ’25 team snag the franchise’s third wild-card playoff berth in four years. He reeled off 21.1 scoreless innings and 42 strikeouts after allowing a home run in his second outing.
This season, if there was a Padres MVP to the team’s 17-8 start entering Saturday, Miller would be a good choice.
The team went 12-0 in his outings. He didn’t allow a run in the 12.1 innings, striking out 27 batters.
The 2024 All-Star said he has improved his accuracy since joining the Padres, and without sacrificing stuff.
He has thrown 74% of his pitches for strikes, compared with 65% for his entire 2025 season. Accentuating a slider that scouts give an 80 on the 20-to-80 scale, he’s throwing that pitch more than his awesome fastball.
The chess effect has been profound, forcing hitters to become more aggressive. They’re paying a stiffer price for sitting on MLB’s hottest heater -— another grade 80-pitch, one which averages 101.3 miles per hour. Hitters, predictably, are chasing more of Miller’s pitches out of the strike zone.
As gaudy as the regular-season scoreless streak has been, when one acknowledges Miller’s playoff mastery of the Cubs and his four scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts in the World Baseball Classic last month, the more accurate picture has been this surreal dominace: a span of 40 1/3 scoreless innings, with averages of 19.4 strikeouts and 1.6 hits per nine innings.
Can Miller maintain that pace for much longer?
That wouldn’t be a fair request of any pitcher, past or present.
Can the 6-foot-5 pitcher sustain his health and good consistency through 2029, when he’ll become eligible for free agency? TBD.
Let’s go back to The Pursuit.
The Padres seek the franchise’s fourth playoff berth in five years, their first World Series trophy and the stunning parade in the East Village that would follow — men and women weeping, dogs and cats embracing.
Don’t overlook that Miller has bolstered a ’26 Padres bullpen that lost Jeremiah Estrada to injury, lacked Jason Adam before the 14th game and saw Adrian Morejon struggle more than he did for most of last year.
For all Padres, he has provided a psychological edge.
Opponents no doubt would gladly eat spinach for each of the first six innings, if it meant not facing Miller in a close game.
A recent comment by Padres manager Craig Stammen underscored the mental stress Miller creates for Padres foes. When asked April 11 if the closer would be unavailable to pitch, after having appeared in three consecutive games for the first time, the ex-reliever did not say yes.
Rather, he framed Miller’s status as TBD, although Miller was almost certainly unavailable.
Count not only Padres hitters but Padres fielders as beneficiaries of Miller’s dominance.
No disrespect to the San Diego High School baseball team that plays only several blocks from Petco Park, but if Stammen had enlisted several Cavers fielders to fill out the defense behind Miller, the results may have been very close to the same.
Understand that in Miller’s 12 games entering Saturday, a baserunner hadn’t made it to Manny Machado.
“You look up,” the third baseman told ESPN this week, leading to the network’s broadcast Saturday, “and, it’s pretty much over.”