Padres' Mason Miller Dominates Inaugural NL Reliever of the Year Voting

[Steve Drumwright]

 

With MLB filled with dominant relievers, there was one who stood out among all bullpen arms.

Mason Miller.

The San Diego Padres' right-handed closer was the unanimous winner Wednesday of the inaugural NL Reliever of the Year, a new award from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Miller not only received all 30 first-place votes, he was the only NL reliever to be on every ballot. On the AL side, runner-up Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians was the only player from the junior circuit on all 30. Winner Louis Varland of the Toronto Blue Jays, though, had 16 first-place votes to Smith's seven while not being listed on three ballots.

Philadelphia Phillies right-handed closer Jhoan Duran finished second with 24 second-place votes and 110 points, 100 points behind Miller. Padres left-handed setup man Adrian Morejon was fourth in balloting, receiving four second-place votes, while Milwaukee Brewers right-handed closer Trevor Megill was third.

Miller finished sixth in voting for the NL Cy Young Award, also given out Wednesday, earning four fifth-place votes. Brewers right-handed starter Jacob Misiorowski was the unanimous winner.

As the Reliever of the Year results indicated, Miller was clearly a cut above the rest of MLB relievers. An All-Star for the third time, Miller converted 38 of 41 save opportunities, both career highs, with a career-best 1.17 FIP (1.67 ERA), a walk rate of 9.6% and a strikeout rate of 47.4%. His 66 appearances and 70 innings pitched were career highs. Miller led all MLB relievers with 518 pitches clocked at 100 mph or better. Those were also more than the second-place team bullpen, which was 465 (Los Angeles Dodgers).

 

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