Padres Pitching Coach Sends Clear Message on Mason Miller's Status in MLB

Ruben Niebla has Mason Miller's back

San Diego Padres pitcher Mason Miller (22) throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park on May 18, 2026. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Relief pitching performances are notoriously fickle. One day, you're elite; the next, you're unemployed.

In a season marked by inconsistency from baseball's ninth-inning men, San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller is making it look easy.

In 25 games this season, Miller has allowed only three earned runs (0.94 ERA). Since joining the Padres in a blockbuster deadline trade last July, Miller has 20 saves and a 0.87 ERA in 50 appearances.

"At the end of the day, it's the greatest closer in baseball right now," Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla said to ESPN. "There's no doubt in my mind."

If anything, Niebla might be underselling his closer.

Miller has faced 107 batters this season. He has 53 strikeouts compared to only 12 hits allowed — all singles.

Since 1920, no pitcher has thrown even 20 innings in a career and struck out batters at a higher rate over a career than Miller (41.2%). And Miller doesn't just miss bats — he misses them by a mile.

The average miss distance on a Miller slider is 10.6 inches, according to Statcast. No other pitcher in the game throws a pitch that yields an average miss distance of 8 inches or more.

Miller's slider also leads the league in yielding swings that are not lined up, centered or on time at 36%, per Statcast. No other pitcher has an offering that yields poor swings more than 26% of the time.

Since September of last season — one month after the trade — the slider has become Miller's go-to pitch. He's throwing it a career-high 54.9% percent of the time in 2026.

It's the most devastating pitch of anyone on the planet — today at least, if not ever. Why not use it as often as possible?

Miller told ESPN's Alden Gonzalez that he throws the pitch differently to left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters.

"It helps a lot, just being able to throw it down to lefties and sweeping away from righties," Miller said. "It almost becomes two different pitches."

It's harder to see beneath those gaudy statistics, Miller has been subject to the same small-sample fluctuations as any relief pitcher. He had not appeared in a game for a week before he allowed a run (on two singles) in a non-save situation last Friday against the New York Mets.

The run ballooned Miller's ERA from 0.72 to 1.05.

Niebla said he "went from historical to great."

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