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Unreal Athletics closer Mason Miller on pace to surpass Mariano Rivera’s career total in just 1 season

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Nick Meyer | Last updated 5/25/24

The Oakland Athletics are currently mired near the bottom of the American League West without a whole lot of hope in terms of World Series prospects for this season. What the A’s do have going for them is the incredible play of closer Mason Miller, who entered Mariano Rivera territory recently with an incredible statistical accomplishment that shows how dominant he has been so far.

The news came during an Athletics outburst that broke an MLB drought for a feat last done by Lou Gehrig’s 1939 Yankees. The A’s also recently picked up a former Astros starter in a unique trade that finally went through for GM David Forst’s team.

Miller’s latest accomplishment has fans comparing him to the all-time greats, including the Yankees pitching savant Rivera.

Miller’s dominance revealed as A’s battle MLB opponents

Mason Miller is on fire for the A's this season. Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros on Saturday night with Miller putting an exclamation mark on an impressive and pertinent victory.

Miller struck out the side for the A’s as they won 3-1 over their American League foes in the Bay Area.

Miller now finds himself in relatively uncharted territory alongside the former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. The Athletics closer has five saves in which he has had at least three strikeouts, as noted by reporter Ryan Spaeder on Twitter.

This impressive feat constitutes half of what New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera achieved during his career for the same statistic, a measure of Miller’s incredible dominance. According to Spaeder, the record for this category of saves is nine by Edwin Diaz in 2018, formerly of the Seattle Mariners with whom he achieved it.

Athletics reprise matchup with Astros Sunday

The Athletics are scheduled to face off with the Astros again on Sunday at 4:07 p.m. ET in California.

Left-hander JP Sears is scheduled to take on Spencer Arrighetti of the Astros in a matchup of two high-volume strikeout pitchers. Sears’ ERA is under 4.00 while Arrighetti’s is approaching seven which should give the Athletics and edge on the mound during Sunday’s game.

With Miller at the back end of the bullpen, one thing’s for sure: the Astros had better get to the A’s pitching staff before the final innings roll around, because it won’t be easy sledding against a pitcher that has struck out more batters at the back end of the bullpen than both starting pitchers already.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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