Mason James Miller...Is married to Jordan...Played collegiately at Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania before transferring to Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina...Went 18-12 with a 3.92 ERA and 306 strikeouts in 239 innings over five seasons...Was the 2024 recipient of the Dave Stewart Community Service Award.
2024
Made his debut as a starter in 2023 but was converted to closer in 2024 and set an Athletics rookie record for saves with 28...Compiled a 2.49 ERA in 55 relief appearances and struck out 104 batters in 65 innings...Led Major League rookies and tied for ninth among all pitchers in saves...The saves broke the previous Athletics rookie record of 26 set by Andrew Bailey in 2009...They were the most by any rookie since Jim Henderson had 28 for Milwaukee in 2013...Converted 28-of-31 (90.3%) save opportunities, which was the sixth-best percentage in the Majors and seventh-best in Athletics history...His 104 strikeouts ranked second among ML relievers to the Astros Hader (105) and tied for sixth-most by a reliever in Athletics history...Averaged 14.40 strikeouts per nine innings which was the highest mark in the Majors and in Athletics history among all pitchers with 40 or more innings pitched...Walked 21 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.95, which was 17th best among ML relievers...Was named to his first American League All-Star team...Also earned The Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year honors and was second-team All-MLB...Placed fourth in BBWAA AL Rookie of the Year voting and earned one first-place vote...Was named to the Baseball America All-Rookie team as a relief pitcher and was the reliever on the Baseball Digest MLB Rookie All-Star team...Had the seventh-lowest opponents OPS in the Majors among relievers (.495) and ranked ninth in batting average (.160), on-base percentage (.233) and slugging percentage (.262)...The batting average was fourth lowest in Oakland history by a reliever, the OPS ranked eighth and the on-base percentage was ninth...His opponents batting average broke down to .146 (15-for-103) with a .467 opponents OPS against left-handed hitters compared to .172 (21-for-122) with a .519 OPS against right-handers...Nearly half of his 1,024 pitches were 100 miles per hour or more (510)...Since MLB began tracking pitch speed in 2008, the only two pitchers with more such pitches in a season are Jordan Hicks (659 with St. Louis in 2018) and Aroldis Chapman (568 with Chicago-NL in 2016)...His average pitch speed of 96.1 MPH was fifth best in the Majors...His fastest pitch was 103.8 on Sept. 26 against Texas...It was the second to last pitch in Coliseum history...The final pitch was 103.5, a Travis Jankowski ground out...First batters faced were 3-for-51 with four walks...Had the lowest batting average (.059), on-base percentage (.127) and slugging percentage (.059) against first batters faced in the Majors and tied for fifth in strikeouts (27)...The batting average and slugging percentage were the lowest in Oakland history, the on-base percentage was second lowest and the strikeouts tied for second most...Allowed 1-of-8 (12.5%) inherited runners to score...Converted all 13 of his save opportunities in 27 games at home...Surrendered five of his six home runs on the road...Did not allow a run in eight games, pitching on no days rest (8.0 IP) and converted all five of his save chances...Yielded 11 of his 23 runs in extra innings (7.36 ERA), which tied for second most in the Majors and was the most by an A’s pitcher since at least 1974...Had a 2.19 ERA in the ninth inning and did not allow a run in the eighth inning (8.1 IP)...Compiled a 0.55 ERA in 14 games against AL East competition and retired all 14 of his first batters faced...Was a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities in eight appearances against the National League Central...Was 10-for-10 in saves against NL teams...Yielded a .111 batting average with two strikes and now has a .127 career average in that situation...Opponents were 2-for-33 (.061) on an 0-2 count...Held the opponents three hitter in the order to a .080 batting average...Ranked 10th among ML rookies in games pitched...Tossed at least one inning in 54 of his 55 appearances...Had 14 outings longer than one inning.
2023
Made his Major League debut in just his third professional season and went 0-3 with a 3.78 ERA and .614 opponents OPS in 10 games, including six starts, in a season shortened by a four-month stay on the injured list with tightness in his right forearm...Held the opposition to a .203 batting average but walked 16 and hit three in 33.1 innings for a .309 on-base percentage...Struck out 38 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.38...Yielded just two home runs...His opponents batting average broke down to .167 (8-for-48) with a .573 OPS against lefthanded hitters compared to .229 (16-for-70) with a .642 OPS against right-handers...Opponents hit .143 with the bases empty, .292 with runners on…allowed a .304 average with runners in scoring position...Was 0-1 with a 2.76 ERA and .500 opponents OPS in five games in Oakland, 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA and .709 OPS in five games on the road…did not allow a home run in 16.1 innings at home...Had a 10.50 ERA in the first inning but did not allow a run in the second (5.0 ip) or third (4.0 ip) inning...Tossed at least 4.0 innings and had 81 or more pitches in each of his four starts before going on the injured list…pitched three innings or fewer and threw no more than 54 pitches in his six appearances following his return...Combined to go 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA and .478 opponents OPS in seven starts with Single-A Stockton, Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas…the seven starts were the most of his three seasons in the Minors...Struck out 35 batters in 19.1 innings (16.30 per nine innings) and walked just five (2.33 per nine innings) for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.00...Allowed a .123 batting average, which broke down to .097 (3-for-31) with a .490 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .147 (5-for-34) with a .466 OPS against left-handers…yielded two of his three home runs and issued four of his five walks to righties...Opponents went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-43 (.023) with a walk and 35 strikeouts with two strikes...Did not allow a hit to the six (0-for-7), seven (0-for-6) or eight (0-for-5) hitters in the order.
2022
Was limited to just six starts as he spent most of the season on the injured list with a strained right rotator cuff…combined to go 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA and .170 opponents batting average with the A’s affiliate in the Arizona Complex League, High-A Lansing and Triple-A Las Vegas....Struck out 25 batters in 14.0 innings (16.07 per nine innings) and walked just three (1.93 per nine innings) for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.33....His opponents batting average broke down to .167 (3-for-18) against left-handed hitters and .172 (5-for-29) against right-handers....Opponents were 2-for-7 (.286) with runners in scoring position and 2-for-33 (.061) with two strikes....Tossed 3.0 innings twice and 2.0 innings in his other four starts...Began the season on the injured list with a strained right rotator cuff…made one start on a rehab assignment with the A’s affiliate in the Arizona Complex League on Aug. 23 against the Cubs (2.0ip, 5 so) before he was reinstated from the IL on Aug. 25 and assigned to Lansing…went 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts for the Lugnuts…tossed a career-high 3.0 scoreless and hitless innings and struck out a career-high seven on Sept. 10 against Dayton… was moved up the Las Vegas on Sept. 15 and matched his career high with 3.0 scoreless innings on Sept. 17 against Tacoma (2 h, 1 bb, 3 so)…allowed a career-high three runs on a career-high three hits in 2.0 innings on Sept. 24 against Reno and took the loss…was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in his two starts with the Aviators…pitched for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League following the season and was 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA and .158 opponents batting average in six starts…tied for second in the AFL in games started, ranked sixth in opponents batting average and 10th in strikeouts (20).
2021
Made his professional debut with the A’s affiliate in the Arizona Complex League and was 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA and .190 opponents batting average in three games, including two starts… struck out nine batters in 6.0 innings and walked three…righties were 2-for-15 (.133) against him, left-handed hitters were 2-for-6 (.333) with all three of his walks…opponents were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position…made his debut with a start on Sept. 9 against the Rockies (2.0ip, 2h, 2bb, 3so).
