Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Oakland Athletics’ Mason Miller In Midst of Historic Stretch

Originally posted on Viral Sports News | By Kenneth Teape | Last updated 5/1/24

The start of the 2024 MLB season has presented quite a few bright spots for the Oakland Athletics. Despite their 14-17 record and uncertainty about their location in the future, a few players have provided a positive outlook for the franchise.

Leading the way in that regard is their star relief pitcher, Mason Miller. The Athletics look to have built a stronger-than-anticipated bullpen, with Miller lighting up the radar gun every time he takes the mouth to close out a victory.

So far this season, Miller has made 11 appearances, throwing 13.1 innings with an ERA of 1.35. He has struck out 28 hitters with only four walks, surrendering only seven hits and two earned runs as opponents are struggling to even make contact off of him.

His eight saves on the season are tied for third in the American League, while his 10 games finished is second. He leads the AL in Win Probability Added at 1.8 and has an impressive 0.9 WAR through one month of the season.

Miller’s stats are very impressive, as he is amid a historic pace. Over his last eight appearances, he has had eight saves and 20 strikeouts. According to Codify Baseball on X, there isn’t a player in MLB history that has produced that much over an eight-game span.

A complete list of every pitcher in MLB history to have 8 saves and 20 strikeouts in any span of 8 regular season games:

Mason Miller

That's it. That's the list. pic.twitter.com/DPSWHBTa4m
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 1, 2024

That eight-game stretch has not come against cakewalk opponents, either. Two of them were against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. Two more against the high-powered New York Yankees lineup and one came against the Baltimore Orioles, who are tied for the second most wins in the majors.

After giving up two runs in his first appearance of the season, Miller has been unhittable. He hasn’t given up another run since and has surrendered only four hits after allowing three in his 2024 debut.

You need to jump on the Athletics early, otherwise a comeback becomes nearly impossible to pull off. Before even getting to Miller you need to go up against Lucas Erceg and Austin Adams, who also own ERA’s south of 2.00

This article first appeared on Viral Sports News and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: