San Diego’s bullpen ace has a new trophy to show for his 2026 season. Padres closer Mason Miller was named the winner of the Trevor Hoffman Award, which goes to the National League’s top reliever.
Miller finished ahead of finalists Trevor Megill of the Milwaukee Brewers and Jhoan Duran of the Philadelphia Phillies. In his first full season with the Padres, he backed up the buzz with a 1.67 ERA over a career-high 70 innings, while leading the NL with 38 saves and appearing in 57 games, also an NL best.
His run of dominance stretched well beyond the standard numbers. Miller carried a scoreless streak that began on Aug. 6 and pushed it to 34.2 innings without allowing an earned run. That set a Padres record and ranked as the eighth-longest streak by a reliever since 1961.
The stuff has been every bit as overwhelming as the results. Miller’s fastball averaged 101.4 mph, and hitters had almost no answers for it. He produced a 45.3% swing-and-miss rate on his offerings and struck out batters 47.4% of the time, with both figures landing in the 100th percentile among qualified pitchers.
But it wasn’t just the velocity. Miller paired that heater with a slider that averaged 88 mph, and batters whiffed on it 56.3% of the time. The mix made him a nightmare to square up, even for teammates and opponents who watched him from close range.
“All-Star teammate Jackson Merrill perhaps best encapsulated what it was like to step into a batter's box against Miller and gave him a glowing review earlier this season.”
“It’s pretty ridiculous," Merrill said. "You get in there, you don’t know what’s coming.
You don’t know if it’s gonna be 87, 95 or 105 [mph]. You just gotta be ready for everything, and it’s pretty tough being ready for all that.”
Even the Dodgers had to tip their cap. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts talked earlier this season about how hard Miller is to game-plan for, especially with the way he can change speeds without warning.
“A guy like that, he’s the best in the game,” Roberts said. “You know if you don’t get him, there’s swing-and-miss in there, there’s soft contact.”
“When they’re ahead in the seventh inning," Roberts added, "they don’t lose.”
Now Miller adds another line to an already eye-catching season, and this one comes with hardware.
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