The San Diego Padres (43-40) have been bolstered in their quest for a third consecutive trip to the postseason by the pitching of 27-year-old closer Mason Miller, in his first full season with the Padres.
Miller is tied for second in MLB behind Cleveland’s Cade Smith with 21 saves, posting a ridiculous 0.78 ERA in 33 appearances, which is the lowest among qualified closers. He’s the only pitcher in the majors with more than 20 save opportunities to convert every one of them. A second career All-Star selection should soon be headed his way.
>> Subscribe to Sports Spectrum Magazine for more stories where sports & faith connect <<
Yet on Monday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Miller showed that he is, in fact, human. He surrendered a walk-off hit to give the Cubs (47-38) a 3-2 win (the game was tied when Miller entered, so it wasn’t a save opportunity) and a little more breathing room in the National League wild-card race.
But then again, the Padres might not even be factors in that race without their hard-throwing righty.
Mason Miller's stuff is the best any reliever has posted this season at a 119 proStuff+, and a 0.79 ERA says the results are matching the nasty. Ryan Helsley grades next at 115 with the arsenal to back it up. pic.twitter.com/1UR1egEDKO
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) June 29, 2026
“I don’t think the numbers are lying,” Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman said of Miller to The Athletic earlier this season. “… I think Mason might be the most unhittable pitcher ever.”
Even Hoffman, a Padres legend in his own right and one of the best closers in MLB history, wasn’t able to do what Miller did last season: throw a postseason-record 104.5 mph fastball.
Miller talked a bit about that record-setting pitch as a guest on the Sports Spectrum Podcast earlier this month, as well as his diagnosis of Type I diabetes as a sophomore at Division-III Waynesburg University. Waynesburg is a private Christian school in Miller’s home state of Pennsylvania.
After Miller was diagnosed with the disease and his blood glucose was being managed, his baseball performance took off. He completed his four-year career at Waynesburg and played a fifth at Division-I Gardner Webb before being drafted in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics. He rocketed through the minor leagues and made his MLB debut in 2023, spending two full seasons with the A’s before being traded to San Diego part-way through 2025.
“My story as a whole is a testament of God placing you in places that you’re supposed to be, putting you through challenges and journeys that you need to go through to become the person that you are today,” he said on the podcast. “… I have a platform now that allows me to reach a lot of people, and [my wife Jordan and I] fully intend on making good on that and imparting good into the world.”
Miller said he was raised with believing parents who brought him to church often, but as he grew up, he also grew disillusioned with church and distanced himself from Christian community. But Jesus didn’t distance Himself from Miller. He drew him back to Himself, and ultimately, to the church that He died to save.
“Jesus won in the battle against sin,” Miller said on the podcast. “All the sin, all the wrongdoing, all the evil in the world, Jesus’ blood on the cross washes that away with you accepting Him as your Savior and living your life and honoring Him as such.”
The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder has already pitched in the 2024 All-Star Game, and he’s already represented his country in this year’s World Baseball Classic. The scary part? He still might be getting better.
View this post on Instagram
“What we’re rooted in and what brings us back to why we want to do all these things is what Jesus did for us on the cross,” Miller said on the podcast. “Our ability to live this life knowing that we are loved, we are forgiven, and — although we are not perfect people — that we are able to live with the goal of living like Christ and serving others.”
Miller will seek to serve others because Jesus first served him, even during a busy MLB season that sees his team just one game back of an NL wild-card spot.
San Diego continues its road series against the Cubs on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. ET.
>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<
RELATED STORIES:
— SS PODCAST: Padres closer Mason Miller on pitching for Jesus
— GET IN THE GAME PODCAST: Trevor Hoffman – HOF closer
— Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith knows ‘who I am in Jesus’
— Padres slugger Gavin Sheets has given ‘my whole life to God’
— Padres pitcher Jason Adam an All-Star: ‘I feel blessed beyond measure’
