Flame-thrower Miller keeps gassing up more history

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos' A's Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

OAKLAND -- For a pitcher with zero closing experience at any level prior to this season, Mason Miller has been nothing short of spectacular in his new role.

After closing out Thursday’s 3-1 A’s victory over the Rays at the Coliseum for his 20th save, Miller became just the third rookie in A’s history to record 20 saves in a season. The other two:

• Andrew Bailey (26 saves) in 2009
• Huston Street (23 saves) in 2005

Perhaps once the season concludes, Miller can reflect deeper on that achievement. In the immediate aftermath, he viewed it mostly as just another day at the office.

“Each [save] is more important than the last,” Miller said on Thursday afternoon. “Obviously you look at benchmarks like that. You like even numbers. But I’m always excited for the next one.”

A’s manager Mark Kotsay heaped a bit more praise on Miller for reaching 20 saves and how it could help his building case for American League Rookie of the Year, which, to this point, seems to be a strong race between Miller, Yankees starter Luis Gil and O's outfielder Colton Cowser.

“He’s done a tremendous job with the transition,” Kotsay said of Miller. “From never having been in the bullpen to becoming a leverage pitcher, especially a closer, he’s putting himself in a position to actually be talked about as Rookie of the Year. That’s an unbelievable achievement. We’re hopeful that we can get him some more opportunities to really solidify that and get his name out there amongst those guys that are being talked about.”

Entering Saturday, here is a look at some of the more impressive feats Miller has accomplished so far this season:

• Miller’s 365 pitches of 100 mph or greater lead the Majors and are the most by an A’s pitcher since MLB began tracking pitch speed in 2008.

• He fired a 103.6 mph fastball to Trea Turner during his scoreless inning in the All-Star Game, which now stands as the hardest thrown pitch in All-Star Game history (since pitch-tracking began in 2008).

• Miller picked up the win for the AL in the All-Star Game, becoming just the third rookie in Major League history to earn the win in a Midsummer Classic, joining the Yankees' Spec Shea in 1947 and the Nationals' Dean Stone in '54.

Since returning from the injured list on Aug. 7, Miller has appeared in seven games and has yet to allow a run. Over that stretch, he’s recorded five saves while allowing just one hit and three walks with 11 strikeouts in eight innings.

“It’s honestly like the reverse effect of [coming back from the injured list],” said Miller, who holds an overall 1.85 ERA in 41 relief appearances. “You take a little blow and your body doesn’t know what to do. Then you jump right back into it. … I feel good coming down the stretch here. I’m just trying to finish the year strong.”

Despite missing some time due to injury, Miller is still tied for fifth among Major League relievers in strikeouts, with 81 through 48 2/3 innings. That translates to 15 strikeouts per nine innings, the highest mark of any A’s reliever with a minimum of 40 innings pitched.

With all this massive success as a closer, the natural question is, will this be Miller's long-term role?

When general manager David Forst revealed in December that Miller would shift to the bullpen for the 2024 season due to injury concerns, he left the door open for the 26-year-old flamethrower to potentially move back into a starting role in the future, depending on how his health holds up.

So far, Miller has proven mostly durable from an arm standpoint, as his only injury to this point was non-baseball related. But as Miller evolves into one of the more dominant closers in the game, it is becoming harder to envision him performing any other role.

“It’s a grind pitching out of the bullpen,” Kotsay said. “But he’s done a nice job with handling the workload. We’ll assess at the end of the season. Each season presents new thoughts and new ideas. But to have someone like him in the back end of the bullpen with that much confidence, I think it would be hard to take him out of that role and transition him back to a starter.”

Miller is certainly enjoying the adrenaline that comes with closing out games for the A’s.

“I like that feeling,” Miller said. “I don’t want to take it for granted. But you have to bring a confidence for those last three outs. Every out in the game is important, but those last three sometimes feel like the hardest to get. I’m just coming in and being dialed in from the first pitch and attacking guys.”