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Padres' Mason Miller Makes MLB History Not Seen Since at Least 1900

The closer has a chance at one of the best seasons ever by a Padres reliever.
J.P. Hoornstra|
Apr 9, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) reacts after pitching in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Apr 9, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) reacts after pitching in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

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San Diego Padres

Mason Miller striking out the side has become such a routine event for the San Diego Padres, even MLB's social media team is running out of words to describe it.

On April 4, Miller struck out the side against the Boston Red Sox. "Mason Miller strikes out the side with some nasty stuff," MLB wrote on its official X account.

On April 9, Miller struck out the side against the Colorado Rockies. "He strikes out the side on pure nastiness," MLB declared on X.

OK, so Miller is nasty — historically nasty.

According to researcher Sarah Langs, Miller has made four appearances this season in which he faced three or more batters and struck them all out. No pitcher has done that in his team's first 14 games of a season since at least 1900.

Miller, 27, is showing Padres fans with each outing why the team was willing to send top prospect Leo De Vries to the A's at last year's trade deadline for his electric right arm.

Miller is striking out 79.2% of batters — 19 in 24 plate appearances — through his first seven appearances of the season. He has a -1.63 FIP (fielding independent pitching), a predictive stat scaled to resemble ERA based on strikeouts, walks and home runs allowed.

Miller won't be able to sustain those numbers. In 2012, former Padres closer Craig Kimbrel struck out 116 batters in 62.2 innings while posting a 0.78 FIP. That's the lowest by any reliever who threw even 40 innings in a season since baseball integrated in 1947.

If he stays healthy, Miller could finish 2026 with the best season by a Padres reliever — if not the best in major league history.

In 2019, Kirby Yates struck out 101 batters in 60.2 innings, finishing the season with a 1.30 FIP.

Lance McCullers Sr. holds the team record for strikeouts by a reliever. He fanned 126 in 1987, though that was in 123.1 innings. Trevor Hoffman holds the team record for saves, with 53 in 1998. Yates holds the record for FIP.

Miller has four saves, which leads MLB. The Padres have given him plenty of opportunities by getting off to an 8-6 start.

Perhaps more remarkably, Miller's 19 strikeouts are more than any starter on the team except Nick Pivetta. Pivetta has logged 13 innings across three starts; Miller has completed 7.1 innings.

Again, he won't sustain this pace. But so far it's been fun to watch. Nasty, even.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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