All-Star closer Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres has been named the National League Reliever of the Month for March/April, and relief pitcher Louis Varland of the Toronto Blue Jays has been voted the American League Reliever of the Month for March/April. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Miller claimed his third career Reliever of the Month Award and his second with the Padres after winning in September 2025 and March/April 2024 as a member of the Athletics. Miller is the eighth different Padres reliever to receive the honor, joining Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman (3x: May 2005, September 2006 & May 2007); Heath Bell (April 2009); Brad Hand (2x: July 2017 & May 2018); Kirby Yates (April 2019); Mark Melancon (April 2021); Josh Hader (April 2023); and Robert Suarez (2x: May 2024 & March/April 2025). San Diego’s 13 awards are the second-most of any franchise behind only Milwaukee’s 14 recognitions. With his award for March/April, Miller became the 17th pitcher to receive three-or-more monthly recognitions, joining Félix Bautista, Aroldis Chapman, Emmanuel Clase, Edwin Díaz, Camilo Doval, Hader, Ryan Helsley, Liam Hendriks, Trevor Hoffman, Greg Holland, Raisel Iglesias, Craig Kimbrel, Joe Nathan, J.J. Putz, Rafael Soriano and Devin Williams. Varland claimed his first career honor in his second season with the Blue Jays, becoming the fourth Toronto reliever to receive the recognition, joining B.J. Ryan (May 2008); Roberto Osuna (June 2017) and Jordan Romano (2x: April & July 2022).
Mason Miller, San Diego Padres (@mason.j.miller)
The 27-year-old pitched to a 1.17 ERA (2 ER/15.1 IP) while converting all 10 of his save opportunities across 15 appearances in which he allowed six hits with three walks, 29 strikeouts, a 0.59 WHIP and a .118 opponents’ average.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native led the Majors in saves, while his 53.7 strikeout percentage was the highest among all qualified relievers, over 10 percent higher than the second-best reliever.
Dating back to the 2024 All-Star’s second appearance as a member of the Padres on August 5th of last season through April 27th, Miller produced a streak of 34.2 scoreless innings across 33 appearances. The streak, which passed Cla Meredith for the franchise record, ranks eighth-longest in MLB history.
Per Elias, Miller was both the first pitcher in the Expansion Era to record a scoreless inning streak of at least 34.0 innings and strike out 70+ batters, and the first to record such a streak while allowing fewer than 10 hits during the streak.
Miller became the first pitcher in MLB history to record 10 saves and 29 strikeouts through March/April. The flamethrower also joined Hall of Famer Rich Gossage (September/October 1980); Norm Charlton (September/October 1995); Eric Gagne (August 2003); Brad Lidge (September/October 2004); Francisco Rodríguez (September/October 2006); and Aroldis Chapman (2x: July 2012 & June 2014) as the only pitchers in MLB history to record at least 10 saves and 29 strikeouts in a month.
Louis Varland, Toronto Blue Jays (@louievarland)
The 28-year-old pitched to a 0.56 ERA (1 ER/16.0 IP) while converting all four of his save opportunities across 15 appearances in which he allowed 12 hits with four walks, 26 strikeouts, a 1.00 WHIP and a .214 opponents’ average.
The St. Paul, Minnesota native’s 43.4 strikeout percentage ranked second in the Majors, behind only Miller, his one earned run tied for second least, his 26 strikeouts were tied for fourth and his 14.63 strikeouts per nine innings tied for seventh among all qualified relievers.
Varland’s 26 strikeouts through 16.0 innings of work marks the fourth such occurrence in Blue Jays’ history, joining Tom Henke (26 in June 1987); Steve Delabar (28 in August 2012); and his bullpen mate Jeff Hoffman, who also accomplished the feat across March/April.
The Concordia University alumni joined Mark Eichhorn (May 1986) and Henke (3x: June 1987, July 1989 & August 1989) as the only pitchers in Blue Jays’ history to record at least four saves and 26 strikeouts in a month.
Varland’s strikeouts per nine innings mark joined him with Henke (3x: May 1986, July 1989 & August 1989), Brandon Morrow (August 2010) and his teammate Dylan Cease (March/April 2026) as the only Blue Jays pitchers to record a month with a K/9 ratio of 14.00-or-higher while pitching 16.0 innings-or-more. His 14.63 mark is the highest in franchise history in a month, surpassing Morrow’s previous record of 14.54.
Others receiving votes for AL Reliever of the Month included David Bednar (1-2, 3.55 ERA, 13 G, 9-for-10 SV, 12.2 IP, 16 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 14 SO) of the New York Yankees; Matt Brash (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 14 G, 0-for-1 SV, 11.1 IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 8 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; Yennier Cano (1-1, 1.69 ERA, 15 G, 10.2 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 11 SO); Ryan Helsley (0-2, 2.53 ERA, 7-for-7 SV, 12 G, 10.2 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 7 BB, 15 SO), Anthony Nunez (1-0, 2.35 ERA, 14 G, 1-for-2 SV, 15.1 IP, 12 H, 2 HR, 3 BB, 18 SO); and Rico Garcia (2-0, 0.66 ERA, 15 G, 1-for-2 SV, 13.2 IP, 1 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 15 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles; Jacob Latz (0-1, 1.42 ERA, 12 G, 2-for-3 SV, 12.2 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 11 SO) of the Texas Rangers; Daniel Lynch IV (0-0, 0.79 ERA, 11 G, 11.1 IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 13 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; Tyler Rogers (1-1, 0.59 ERA, 15 G, 0-for-1 SV, 15.1 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 8 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays; and Cade Smith (2-0, 3.86 ERA, 14 G, 7-for-9 SV, 14.0 IP, 16 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 17 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians.
Others receiving votes for NL Reliever of the Month included Brock Burke (1-1, 0.63 ERA, 15 G, 1-for-1 SV, 14.1 IP, 10 H, 0 HR, 6 BB, 17 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; Raisel Iglesias (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 G, 5-for-5 SV, 8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 11 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; and Antonio Senzatela (1-0, 0.46 ERA, 9 G, 2-for-2 SV, 19.2 IP, 9 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 19 SO) of the Colorado Rockies.