When you think of the Oakland Pathetics…sorry, Athletics…you might think of a team that won 110 games over the past two seasons.
You may recall that the team that entered Friday had a league-worst batting average of .207, with one player hitting above .264 and nine players batting below .200. Or a team whose starting rotation was 7-14 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.413 WHIP.
You don’t necessarily think of the 6-foot-5, flamethrowing closer who was the most added reliever in the ESPN league this week and one of the five most added players overall.
Since allowing two earned runs and one walk in his first appearance of the season on March 30, Mason Miller has dominated opponents.
In his past 11 appearances (facing 47 batters), he has pitched 13¹/₃ scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and three free passes.
Opponents have posted a .091 batting average, .285 OPS, and 28 strikeouts (59.6 percent of batters he faced) during that time.
Oh, and he was also 8-of-8 on save chances during that span.
According to Statcast, Miller ranks in the top 9 percent of the league in exit velocity (85.5 mph), top 7 percent in maximum exit velocity (162.6 mph), and top 3 percent in WOBA.
He ranks in the top 1 percent in xBA (.086), xSLG (.134), xWOBA (.138), hard-hitting percentage (19), strikeout percentage (53.7 percent), and xERA (0.80).
In fact, the only categories in which he doesn’t rank near the top are walk rate (7.4) and ground ball rate (38.1 percent).
Among relief pitchers, Miller ranks first in strikeouts per nine innings (18.21), second in strikeout rate (21.9 percent), 20th in opponent average (.140), and 16th in WHIP (0.77). , ranks 22nd in earned run average (1.26).
Opponents also make contact with him just 54.6 percent of the time and only 35.9 percent of the time when the pitch is outside the strike zone.
Miller does this with just two pitches most of the time.
He dominates with his fastball, averaging a whopping 160.7 mph and peaking at 164.2 mph, according to Statcast.
Opponents are batting .185 with 16 strikeouts, a .563 OPS and a 25.6 strikeout rate against his heater (.112 xBA). Also, his whiff rate is 48.6 percent, and he whiffs 57.6 percent of the time he pitches.
Do you want to bet on baseball?
Surprisingly, he could be even more dominant with his slider.
Opponents are batting .087 (.056 xBA) with a strikeout rate of 54.2 percent, a walk rate of 4.2 percent, a whiff rate of 48.6 percent, and a strikeout rate of 17.2 percent.
Even more surprisingly, there’s no indication in his underlying numbers that what he’s doing is unsustainable.
It’s quite the opposite. His xERA, FIP (-0.07), xFIP (0.90), and BABIP (.330) all indicate that he is better than he was before, if that’s possible.
Oh, and he’s still available in nearly 35% of ESPN leagues (15% on Yahoo).
That said, Mr. Miller is in high demand and may perhaps want to cash in while his stock is soaring.
Perhaps they could find a trade partner and acquire a low buy candidate for a package that includes Miller, like Julio Rodriguez, Austin Riley, or some other struggling stud.
(Roto Rage is not advocating trading the big 25-year-old, noting that now could be the ideal time for him to get a huge return.) )
If such a trade is not possible, keep Miller on the team. As long as he stays healthy, he’ll only get better (which feels like a natural disclaimer to follow in favor of pitchers these days, especially pitchers who regularly throw 164 mph).
big hit
Alec Bohm 1B/3B, Phillies
Until Friday night, he had a 15-game hitting streak, with 29 hits in 60 at bats (.483 batting average), three home runs, 20 RBIs, 11 RBIs, and a 1.315 OPS.
John Gray SP, Rangers
After allowing five earned runs in his first start, he allowed four runs in his next six games, with a 1.24 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and a .194 opponent average, going 1 win, 1 loss.
Luis Rengifo 2B/3B/SS/OF, Angels
He is in 50 percent of ESPN leagues and is batting .327 with a .903 OPS and seven stolen bases in his past 17 games through Friday.
Nick Lodolo SP, Reds
He started the first four games, recording 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings and holding opponents to a .177 batting average. He already has three wins.
big whiff
Ronald Acuña Jr. OF, Braves
He entered the weekend without a home run since April 17th. In 12 games since then, he has hit .192 with 18 strikeouts and a .534 OPS.
Adrian Hauser SP, Mets
He has no wins this season, and in his past five starts he has 0 wins and 3 losses, an ERA of 9.51, a strikeout/walk ratio of 13 wins and 17 losses, and an opponent average of .306.
Randy Arozarena (Rays)
In his past 59 at-bats entering Friday, he had just five hits (.085) with 22 strikeouts and a .334 OPS.
Marcus Stroman SP, Yankees
In each of his past four starts, he hasn’t lasted more than 5¹/₃ innings, going 1 win, 1 loss with a 5.95 ERA, 5 home runs allowed, and a .299 opponent average. He walked 12 steps in this section.
check the swing
Austin Riley had an 11-game hitting streak from April 6th to 17th, with 7 hits in 45 at bats (.156 batting average), no home runs, 14 strikeouts, and an OPS of .469. Until today, he had a batting average of .333 and a batting average of .947. Games until Friday. Six of his seven hits during that period were singles. He’s a great buy-low candidate.
With 16 hits in 38 at-bats (.421), two home runs, eight runs batted in, eight runs batted in, one stolen base and a 1.121 OPS, Jurickson Profar was ESPN’s most added player in the league as of Friday morning.
Who was the second-biggest addition? It would be Minnesota backstop Ryan Jeffers. He has gone 13-for-33 (.394 batting average) with two home runs, seven RBIs, seven runs batted in, one stolen base and a 1.185 OPS in his last 10 games.
Trea Turner has hit .378 with two home runs, seven RBIs, 21 runs batted in, six stolen bases and a .945 OPS over the last 23 games, improving from a .222 batting average on April 7th to .336.
Opponents are hitting .308 with 10 home runs and a .927 OPS against Joe Musgrove this season. In his first 41 innings, he allowed 29 earned runs (6.37 ERA) and had the worst WHIP and walk rate of his career.
Cutter Crawford started his first seven games, going 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA and a .201 opponent average, allowing more than two earned runs only once.
This week’s team name
Down with the Sickness
