A's Bullpen Ranks Second in MLB Since Trading Mason Miller to Padres
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Having lockdown arms in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings is certainly the ideal for any major league team, but it's the Athletics who have been thriving out of the bullpen even after shipping one of the game's best in Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres at the 2025 trade deadline.
Since the A's traded Mason Miller last July:
— Jason Burke (@ByJasonB) April 29, 2026
A's bullpen ERA - 3.39, 3rd in MLB
Miller - 0.96 ERA, 2nd in MLB pic.twitter.com/Hag3Bvmcsk
In return, the A's landed a package headlined by Pipeline's No. 4 prospect in baseball, Leo De Vries, who made it to Double-A, joining rare company in doing so as an 18-year-old. This season he's batting .303 with a .383 on-base percentage and an .871 OPS, already making his case for a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas. He could be in Sacramento this season.
What the A's have built without Miller has been impressive. Following Wednesday's game against the Royals, the A's have now played 81 games — exactly half a season — since the Miller deal. In that span, their bullpen has a 3.39 ERA, ranking second in baseball.
Miller has been lights out, as expected, since the trade, holding a 0.93 ERA, which puts him second in baseball in that span, just behind Atlanta Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias and his 0.28 ERA. The Padres bullpen as a group is ranked fourth in baseball in this span with a 3.55 ERA.
The top five rounds out with the Milwaukee Brewers at the top with a 3.37 ERA, followed by the A's, then the Cleveland Guardians and their 3.46 ERA, the Padres, and then the Cincinnati Reds at 3.58.
Forst on A's bullpen since Miller trade
Trading away a shutdown closer is always going to draw some attention to what's next for the club that moved a player of Miller's caliber. For their part, the A's have handled their own business. A's GM David Forst spoke with A's Cast before Wednesday's game in Sacramento.
Forst said, "We've done a really good job. It's clear, when the starter does go into the sixth and seventh inning, it's that much easier of a workload. We saw [Tuesday] night we had to get 12 outs, and didn't quite get there, but ultimately, everybody's ready. Kots is trying to balance the workload for different guys.
"Hogan is a guy that's pitched a lot. We've relied on him a lot. Other guys are going to have to step up. Perk [Jack Perkins] goes two innings, gets a day off, gets an inning. We're going to have to balance all the workload."
Jack Perkins is an emerging weapon for the A's in late relief, with the 26-year-old righty holding a 2.92 ERA this season, while also wielding an impressive 1.74 FIP. He's racked up two saves this season, and both have been multi-inning affairs.
Hogan Harris has appeared in 17 of the A's 30 games this season, posting an impressive 2.65 ERA across 17 innings of work. He's been asked to eat multiple innings, a single out in a big spot, and everything in between. For a bullpen that has been built upon flexibility, Harris' versatility makes him arguably the biggest piece of the bullpen.
Mark Kotsay on what goes into this production
We asked Kotsay about what goes into his approach to be able to hit the right keys consistently while having a closer-by-committee.
"There's a lot of collaboration. There's a lot of planning pre-game to how we want to align our bullpen, day-in, day-out from the standpoint of keeping guys fresh. We always know that guys pitch better when there's rest.
"Looking at the matchups, trying to align our guys in runs throughout the lineup that we feel they can have success in. I think all of that plays into it. And then building the confidence down there with those guys...if you've got eight guys down there that are confident, I think that's a good sign."
Kotsay also alluded to the fact that having guys that slot directly into the seventh, eighth and ninth innings is the dream, but it also leaves the other four or five guys in the bullpen out of the mix. "When that phone rings at that point [late in the game], it's not going to be them."
Kotsay has made sure to communicate the coaching staff's plan for each reliever in each situation from the start, and also lets them know that is where the team feels they'll be successful on a given day. That has to give those eight guys a bit of a confidence boost, knowing that the situation they're coming into is one that the coaches believe they're suited for.
"In a perfect world, would it be nice to have that lined up? Sure. But our guys are doing a great job with their roles right now."
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. Mason Miller once said he likes Jason's content.
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