Mason Miller Earns Top-100 Right Now Ranking

Athletics closer Mason Miller had an electric first full season in the big leagues, transitioning to be the team's closer to begin the year, and then becoming one of the best in the game in the process. Miller held a 2.49 ERA across 65 innings while the team made sure to get him through the year healthy by not putting him in too many back-to-back or multi-inning situations.

Heading into the 2025 campaign, those reins may be loosened a bit, which may allow Miller, 26, to have an even better year. The season he put up in 2024 earned him a spot on MLB Network's Top 100 Players Right Now list, and if he follows up last season with a similar or better year in 2025, he could be a top-50 player.

The way they see it, Miller is the 78th-best player in baseball right now, which is a solid showing given that he wasn't on last year's list and isn't a position player. Heck, he's not even a starting pitcher, so the opportunities to make an impact are fewer.

Ranked right behind Miller at No. 79 and 80 are catchers Salvador Pérez of the Kansas CIty Royals, and J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies. Right in front of Miller is new Yankees closer Devin Williams, who fell from No. 59 on the list a year ago. The most surprising name around Miller is George Kirby, one of the Seattle Mariners numerous aces, who is ranked No. 75.

That also opens up an interesting debate: Which player would you rather have if you were building out a roster? That may be a topic for another day.

A's on SI asked Miller late last season about playing games in Sacramento and how that may impact how he pitches, and he gave a response that rang throughout the clubhouse among the pitchers that we asked. He plans to pitch down in the zone a little more since the heat in Sacramento will likely allow the ball to carry a bit further.

Miller's fastball got most of its swings and misses primarily up in the zone, so lowering the target for his heater may lead to more contact. Most of the base hits he allowed occurred when he threw it lower in the zone, so keeping it up high may end up being the strategy after all.

That, or he could utilize his slider a little more and vary its location. The majority of his sliders were thrown on the inner part of the plate to right-handers, so having that leak out to the outer part of the dish against them could result in some chase pitches and even more swing and miss, while also keeping the ball down in the zone.

It's not like hitters had much success against either pitch last season, and those two offerings accounted for 98.1% of his pitches, with 17 changeups and three splitters (splinkers) added to the mix. Batters hit just .140 against the slider and .178 against the heater, while the xBA (expected batting average) for Miller's slider was a paltry .098 with a 47.2% whiff rate.

Maybe it would be best not to change a thing.