According to a recent report from the Winter Meetings, the Oakland A's are planning to move Mason Miller to the bullpen for the 2024 season. The hope is that he can get through an entire season healthy, and then they can potentially re-examine Miller as a starter for 2025.
While this is big news, it's not necessarily surprising news. This is the same formula that the team followed with A.J. Puk before trading him to the Miami Marlins ahead of the 2023 season. Miller, like Puk, has been limited as a professional due to injury. The goal is to get him some innings and some experience, then make a long-term decision from there.
Miller made his MLB debut on April 19 of this past season and made a name for himself immediately. Through four starts he held a 3.38 ERA, including a 1.38 in two May starts against the Seattle Mariners and the Kansas City Royals. It was after that start against the Royals that the 25-year-old right-hander would miss the next four months before ultimately returning in a bullpen/opener role to close out the season.
He held a 4.00 ERA through nine relief innings.
While Miller could end up as the team's closer in 2024, he may not start the season in that role. Instead, the A's could look to get his feet wet in the new bullpen role as a middle reliever, before working his way into the later innings and then ultimately into the ninth.
As a starter Miller's fastball ranked in the 97th percentile among all pitchers with an average velocity of 98.3 miles per hour. In his first outing back from injury in September, Miller hit 102.4 on a fastball that was called a strike on George Springer. Towards the end of the month however, he was at times finishing his outings a full tick below his season average velocity. This could be because it was the end of the season, he was still getting his arm into shape after an extended absence, or he wasn't quite getting all the way loose out of the bullpen.
Coming up with a routine for MIller to prepare to come into games will be key to him having success in 2024. We could even see him reach triple digits more regularly in shorter bursts out of the bullpen. Having a weapon like Mason Miller down in the 'pen has to be exciting for manager Mark Kotsay.
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