![\"Mason](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SUT-L-padres-0624-054.jpg\")
Mason Miller #22 of the San Diego Padres comes off the mound after pitching the ninth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park on June 23, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nPHILADELPHIA \u2014 Of course, the Padres\u2019 closer is here.<\/p>\n
Why wouldn\u2019t he be?<\/p>\n
First, there is an argument to be made that Mason Miller is the best relief pitcher in the major leagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe throws ghostballs,\u201d Reds All-Star infielder Sal Stewart said. \u201cYou go up there and kind of are just swinging and hoping it hits your barrel. He\u2019s at another level.\u201d<\/p>\n
And anyway, don\u2019t we consider it a foregone conclusion that any closer the Padres have will end up being an All-Star?<\/p>\n
Just one of the past nine All-Star games and just nine of the 28 All-Star games held since 1998 have not had a Padres closer on hand.<\/p>\n
The lineage of the great Padres closer dates to Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, who was an All-Star for the Padres when the game was played at San Diego Stadium in 1978. And between then and the first of Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman\u2019s six All-Star appearances in 1998 were two appearances by Rich \u201cGoose\u201d Gossage (\u201884 and \u201885) and one by Mark Davis (\u201888).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty remarkable the guys that have come through there and the success they\u2019ve had,\u201d Miller said. \u201cPretty honored to be a part of that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Historically speaking, it isn\u2019t even unusual that Miller would be the only one here in a Padres uniform.<\/p>\n
Eight times in a 20-year span \u2014 Hoffman in 2000, \u201802 and \u201806, Heath Bell in \u201811, Huston Street in \u201812, Brad Hand in \u201817 and \u201818 and Yates in \u201819 \u2014 the only Padres representative at the All-Star game was the team\u2019s closer.<\/p>\n
But this was not supposed to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the only guy when I went with the A\u2019s,\u201d Miller said of his 2024 selection. \u201cI thought I wasn\u2019t going to be the only guy (with the Padres).\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the first time since 2019 that the Padres have sent just one player to the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWouldn\u2019t have guessed it at the beginning of the year,\u201d Miller said. \u201cBut here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, here he is.<\/p>\n
Dressed in a Padres jersey.<\/p>\n
For now.<\/p>\n
Among the myriad topics the procession of people with recorders and microphones and cameras who approached his table here during media availability on Monday asked Miller to address was the possibility he will be traded in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
In fact, if the likelihood of his being dealt at the trade deadline were to be judged based on the volume of questions, he should start packing.<\/p>\n
The idea he would go to the Yankees was broached by multiple members of the New York and national media.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a compliment,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey\u2019re a very good team, and they\u2019re interested in good players.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said, \u201cIt\u2019s a big city. I can\u2019t say I\u2019m a big city guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason Miller #22 of the San Diego Padres comes off the mound after pitching the ninth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park on June 23, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Nothing should be read into Miller\u2019s willingness to engage such questions.<\/p>\n
Because Miller is who he is \u2014 earnest and polite \u2014 he answered every query he could. And the questions get pretty random in this setting.<\/p>\n
If there was one player he could go back and play with, it would be Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, because he would like to learn how to throw Rivera\u2019s cutter.<\/p>\n
If he could choose any All-Star to join the Padres, he would pick the Phillies\u2019 Kyle Schwarber, \u201cbecause not only is he a great hitter, he\u2019s a phenomenal teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He does not like the ERA stat when used to assess relief pitchers.<\/p>\n
He hopes he faces former A\u2019s teammate Shea Langeliers in Tuesday\u2019s All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
Alas, he could not identify Christina Aguilera when shown a photo.<\/p>\n
In a quiet moment after his session was finished, before he was whisked away for the National League\u2019s team photo, Miller also shared something he had been reluctant to make public when he missed three games in May.<\/p>\n
During the moment between innings in Tuesday\u2019s game when everyone inside Citizens Bank Park is asked to stand and hold up cards featuring the name of someone afflicted with cancer that they are \u201cstanding up\u201d for, Miller will hold a card that says \u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through teary eyes, he said: \u201cI\u2019m not looking to super get into it. But I\u2019m going to put it on my sign. So it\u2019s not a secret.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Tuesday\u2019s game, Miller will head across Pennsylvania to visit his mother, Kirstin, in Pittsburgh before joining the Padres in Kansas City for Friday\u2019s start of a 10-game road trip.<\/p>\n
That trip will be completed eight days before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Several people in the organization have said the way the team performs coming out of the All-Star break will go a long way in determining how they proceed in terms of buying or selling. If it is the latter, their biggest chip is Miller.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so gray,\u201d Miller said of the Padres\u2019 situation. \u201cWe have to see where we are in the next two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not the first time he has endured this uncertainty. Talk of Miller potentially being traded in 2024 did not come to fruition. Obviously, it did in 2025 when the Athletics sent him and JP Sears to the Padres for top prospect Leo De Vries and three minor-league pitchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re sitting here talking about it again this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Mason](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SUT-L-padres-0713-026.jpg\")
Mason Miller #22 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Petco Park on Sunday, July 12, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
There was no animosity in his voice or his manner. The possibility exists. But whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of fruitless to worry about anything that is three weeks away, four weeks away, whatever it ends up being,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
He spoke of being excited about this past weekend\u2019s series win against the Blue Jays, in which he got his 24th and 25th saves of the season on Saturday and Sunday. That total leads the National League.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy with the Padres and the team we have,\u201d Miller said. \u201cObviously, we haven\u2019t played up to expectations put on us or that we had. We\u2019ll see how the rest of this month shapes up. \u2026 A lot of teams would probably love to have me on their team. I\u2019m happy with the Padres, and I\u2019m looking forward to winning games with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Of course, the Padres\u2019 closer is here. Why wouldn\u2019t he be? First, there is an argument…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2407],"tags":[5,853,4,43,137,18,4339,4338,185,3546],"class_list":["post-751171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego-padres","tag-baseball","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-padres","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sandiego","tag-sandiegopadres","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116916042299147883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}