Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres named the National League Reliever of the Month for May;Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians named the American League Reliever of the Month for May

Closer Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres has been named the National League Reliever of the Month for May, and relief pitcher Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians has been voted the American League Reliever of the Month for May. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Miller claimed his fourth career, his third consecutive and his third Reliever of the Month Award with the Padres after winning March/April 2026, September 2025 and March/April 2024 when he was a member of the Athletics. Miller, already one of eight Padres relievers to receive the honor, joined Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman (3x: May 2005, September 2006 & May 2007) as the only players in Padres’ history to claim the award three times with the Club. Miller joined Emmanuel Clase, Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Díaz, Josh Hader, Liam Hendriks, Hoffman, Greg Holland, Raisel Iglesias, Craig Kimbrel, and Joe Nathan as the only pitchers to receive the award four-or-more times. Smith claimed his second award after previously winning with the Guardians in September of last season. Smith joined Clase (7x: August 2021, June 2022, August 2022, September/October, 2022, May 2024, July 2024 & September 2024) as the only relievers in Guardians history to receive the honor on multiple occasions.

Mason Miller, San Diego Padres (@mason.j.miller)
The 27-year-old pitched to a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/9.2 IP) while converting all seven of his save opportunities across nine appearances in which he allowed four hits with eight walks, 20 strikeouts, a 1.24 WHIP and a .118 opponents’ average.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native’s 18.62 strikeouts per nine innings mark led all qualified relievers in the month of May while his 0.00 ERA was tied for first. His 47.6 strikeout percentage ranked second to only Smith; his saves were tied for sixth-most; and his strikeouts were tied for seventh-most. Additionally, his 17 saves this year lead the National League and are second-most behind only Smith’s Major League-leading 20 saves.

Along with his National League Reliever of the Month Award-winning September/October of last season, the 2024 All-Star became the first pitcher in Padres’ history to record multiple months with 20-or-more strikeouts and four-or-less hits allowed. Miller is the only pitcher to complete the feat without allowing an earned run, which he did in both months.

The third-round pick in the 2021 Draft (by OAK) joined Heath Bell (April/March 2009); Josh Hader (July 2023); Trevor Hoffman (7x); and Taylor Rogers (April/March 2022) as the only Padres pitchers to record seven-or-more saves without allowing an earned run in a single month. Miller has offered scoreless relief in 23 of his 24 outings this season, with the Padres boasting a record of 22-2 in games he takes the mound.

Per Elias, Miller is the only pitcher in Padres’ history to record 49 strikeouts in a span of 25.0 innings-or-less in a single season. Miller also holds the combined season franchise record with 54 strikeouts across 25.0 innings from August 2025 to April 2026.

Miller, who pitched for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, has not allowed an extra-base hit since his second appearance as a member of the Padres on August 5, 2025. His 44 consecutive games without allowing an extra-base hit is the longest active streak in the Majors, the longest by a Padres’ pitcher in franchise history. Additionally, it is tied for the third-longest streak since 2000, matching Brandon Morrow’s 44-game streak across 2017-18, behind only a pair of 45-game streaks by Wade Davis in 2013 and George Sherrill in 2006.

Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians
The 27-year-old pitched to a 1.32 ERA (2 ER/13.2 IP) while converting all 13 of his save opportunities across 13 appearances in which he allowed nine hits with a walk, 25 strikeouts, a 0.73 WHIP and a .184 opponents’ average.

The Abbotsford, BC, Canada native’s 13 saves, 50.0 strikeout percentage and 25.00 strikeout to walk ratio led all qualified relievers, with the next closest reliever tallying nine saves in the month.

The 16th-round pick in the 2017 Draft became the first player in Guardians’ history to record 13 consecutive saves in a calendar month, and joined Doug Jones, José Mesa and Bob Wickman as the only relievers in Guardians’ history to record a save in 13 consecutive appearances. Smith is one of 24 players in MLB history to record 13 saves in a calendar month, and the first since Kirby Yates did so in March/April 2019.

The University of Hawaii product joined Dick Radatz (August 1966) as the only pitchers in franchise history to record 25 strikeouts in a month in which they pitched 13.2-or-less innings.

Smith has recorded a save in 20 of his 27 appearances this season, joining Doug Jones (2x: 20 in 1988 & 21 in 1990); José Mesa (2x: 21 in 1995 & 20 in 1996); and Chris Perez (21 in 2012) as the only pitchers in Cleveland franchise history to record 20-or-more saves through their first 27 appearances of a season.

Smith became just the sixth reliever in MLB history with 20-or-more saves and 40-or-more strikeouts in his team’s first 60 games, marking the first time a relief pitcher has done so since Yates in 2019.

Others receiving votes for NL Reliever of the Month included Miller’s bullpen-mate Jason Adam (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 G, 12.0 IP, 10 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 7 SO) of the Padres; Aaron Ashby (4-0, 1.53 ERA, 11 G, 0-for-1 SV, 17.2 IP, 13 H, 0 HR, 7 BB, 21 SO) and Trevor Megill (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 10 G, 4-for-4 SV, 10.0 IP, 6 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 14 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; Anthony Bender (0-0, 1.54 ERA, 10 G, 11.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 11 SO) of the Miami Marlins; Jhoan Duran (0-1, 1.64 ERA, 11 G, 7-for-7 SV, 11.0 IP, 7 H, 1 HR, 5 BB, 18 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; Brad Lord (2-0, 1.17 ERA, 7 G, 15.1 IP, 11 H, 1 HR, 3 BB, 17 SO) of the Washington Nationals; Paul Sewald (1-1, 3.48 ERA, 11 G, 7-for-8 SV, 10.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 11 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Evan Sisk (0-0, 0.61 ERA, 13 G, 0-for-1 SV, 14.2 IP, 7 H, 1 HR, 5 BB, 16 SO) and Gregory Soto (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 12 G, 6-for-7 SV, 13.0 IP, 4 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 12 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Luke Weaver (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 G, 12.2 IP, 9 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 16 SO) of the New York Mets; and Jacob Webb (1-0, 0.64 ERA, 12 G, 1-for-1 SV, 14.0 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 19 SO) of the Chicago Cubs.

Others receiving votes for AL Reliever of the Month included Bryan Baker (0-0, 1.38 ERA, 14 G, 9-for-10 SV, 13.0 IP, 6 H, 0 HR, 8 BB, 16 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; Aroldis Chapman (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 G, 7-for-7 SV, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 15 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; and Louis Varland (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 G, 4-for-4 SV, 15.0 IP, 11 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 16 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays.