Mason Miller is going where no Padres reliever has before, and that’s saying a lot considering the city’s elite history of closers.
The all-time group includes three Hall of Famers — Trevor Hoffman, Rollie Fingers and Rich “Goose” Gossage — a National League Cy Young Award winner in Mark Davis and more stellar relievers than you can slam a bullpen door on.Yet Miller’s performance right now is so dominant, even one of those greats can’t believe what he’s seeing.
“I think he’s looking for a new league,” Hoffman told Times of San Diego this week, with a huge laugh about what Miller is currently accomplishing. “I mean his numbers are little league-ish to be honest with you.”
Miller hasn’t allowed a run since Aug. 5 of last season, shortly after his deadline trade from the Athletics to the Padres. The streak is now 29.2 innings.
Through Tuesday night’s 4-1 win over the Mariners at Petco Park, Miller has allowed one hit, one walk and struck out 20 of the 27 batters he’s faced in eight appearances across eight innings. He has been credited with a win and has notched five saves, including one last night. The Padres are 11-6 and Miller has had a hand in six of those victories.
The save on Tuesday night was normal — by his standards: A pop out to right, a strikeout, and a grounder to second. He’s already had a streak of 11 consecutive strikeouts over four outings to open the season.
“That’s just sheer dominance,” said Hoffman, who is now a senior advisor with the Padres working with pitchers up and down the system. “He’s on another level right now.”
Miller hasn’t allowed a hit since old friend Luis Arraez of the Giants opened the ninth inning with a single on April 1. He hasn’t walked a batter since Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson with two out in the ninth on opening day. He’s on a streak of retiring 21 consecutive hitters since the Arraez single.
Has Hoffman ever seen anything like it?
“Not really,” Hoffman said. “Just the strikeout component is hard to relate to anybody. Nobody’s doing that at this level. Nobody’s close to doing what he does right now.”
That’s why the Padres during the offseason actually considered converting Miller into a starter. Starting pitching is the club’s biggest issue as the Padres trail the Dodgers by only two games in the National League West. Nick Pivetta just joined Joe Musgrove on the injured list with a recurring right elbow problem. Yu Darvish is on the restricted list and is out for the season.
The rotation is currently a hodgepodge behind Michael King. Still, the Padres make games close enough that Miller is in an essential position right now. But the front office looked at Miller’s ability to control the strike zone and his strikeout-to-walk ratio of 266 to 66 and seriously considered making him a starter, Hoffman said.
“He’s not one-dimensional, that’s for sure,” Hoffman said. “He’s got the plus gas. He’s got a really good slider that he can control. He added a good change up, which he throws in the mid-90s. That’s most pitcher’s fastball. With that three-pitch mix I can see why they considered putting him in the rotation.
“But if you’re competitive there’s more need for somebody at the end. It’s addition by subtraction.”
Hoffman said that decision went to the highest levels of baseball operations involving general manager A.J. Preller, but common sense ultimately ruled. It’s dead and buried, no matter how much the Padres need starting pitching.
“It would be awfully difficult to ramp him up to start right now,” Hoffman said. “A month and a half before spring training started they put those conversations to bed. I’m not trying to stir that up by any means. I’m just marveling about his dominance at the back end. And with a three-pitch mix I could see where your mind might wander. I wouldn’t mess with him.”
To be sure, Miller’s performance is in the here and now. There’s no telling how that will play over the course of 162 games, considering fatigue, injuries and the normal vagaries of baseball, Hoffman noted. The sport has a cosmic quality to it. When things are going well, it’s hard to break that spell. But when it starts going in the opposite direction, watch out.
Hoffman is the epitome of accomplishment over an entire career. His 601 saves over the course of 18 seasons is second only to the great Mariano Rivera, who had 652 in 19 seasons, all with Yankees, and 42 more in the postseason. Hoffman, whose career started in Tampa Bay and ended in Milwaukee had 552 of his saves for the Padres. His overall and totals for one team are both National League records.
That illustrates the difference between a great season and a great career. Hoffman had both, highlighted by recording 53 saves in 54 attempts during the 1998 season, the last time the Padres went to the World Series when they were swept by Rivera and the Yankees.
Since his departure to the Brewers as a free agent after the 2008 season, the Padres have had a parade of great closers: Heath Bell, Huston Street, Mark Melancon, Kirby Yates, Josh Hader and on to Miller, who is now just four innings shy of the franchise record of 33.2 scoreless innings held by Cla Merideth, a set-up reliever near the end of the Hoffman era.
“Relieving has been great here even before I rolled in,” Hoffman said. “There’s been a lineage unlike any other organization. Miller is just picking up the baton and running with it.”
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