Mason James Miller (born August 24, 1998) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. He was selected for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.

Career

Miller played for

Bethel Park High School Bethel Park High School, also called BPHS, is a four-year, comprehensive high school located in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, with an enrollment of 1,391 students in grades 9–12 for the 2018–2019 school year. Its curri ...

in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, while being homeschooled, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at Waynesburg University for four years until he graduated. He then played for Gardner-Webb University for his fifth year as a graduate student. As a sophomore at Waynesburg, he was diagnosed with

Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for ...

. The

selected Miller in the third round of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

. He made his professional debut that year with the

Arizona Complex League Athletics The Arizona Complex League Athletics are a Minor League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, which plays as a Rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League and has served as a farm team for the Oakland Athletics organization since 1988. Th ...

. In 2022, Miller pitched in only six games between the ACL Athletics, Lansing Lugnuts and Las Vegas Aviators. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League. Miller began the 2023 season with the Double-A Midland RockHounds, starting one game for the team before being moved up to Triple-A Las Vegas. After one start in Triple-A, on April 18, 2023, with 11 strikeouts over 5 perfect innings, the Athletics announced that Miller would be promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Miller made his debut a day later, in a game against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. Miller pitched 4 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, a walk, and five strikeouts. He also became the 10th starting pitcher since the debut of

Statcast Statcast is a high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities in Major League Baseball (MLB). Statcast was introduced to all thirty MLB stadiums in 2015, a year now considered the beginning ...

to throw 15 pitches above . After a May 8 start against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, it was reported that Miller was dealing with elbow tightness. He was later diagnosed with a mild sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow and promptly shut down from throwing. On June 30, he was transferred to the 60-day injured list. On September 6, Miller was activated from the injured list, with manager

Mark Kotsay Mark Steven Kotsay (born December 2, 1975) is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder. He is the manager for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Kotsay appeared in 1,914 MLB games for the San ...

noting that Miller would be slated for a relief role. In an effort to maintain Miller's health, the A's announced that Miller would be a reliever during the 2024 season. Beginning the season as the team's closer, Miller earned his first career save in a 4–3 win at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on April 9. Miller was named MLB Reliever of the Month for April 2024 after earning 8 saves in 8 opportunities and 28 total strikeouts. On July 7, 2024, Miller was named as a reserve player in the 2024 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Personal life

Miller is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mason 1998 births Living people American League All-Stars Arizona Complex League Athletics players Baseball players from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs baseball players Lansing Lugnuts players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Solar Sox players Midland RockHounds players Oakland Athletics players Stockton Ports players Waynesburg Yellow Jackets baseball players