When Korn’s “Blind” blares from Petco Park’s speakers in the top of the ninth inning, the San Diego Padres’ opponent knows the game is over because Mason Miller is coming into the game.The lights around the ballpark flash on and off while the music blares, moments before Miller turns the lights off on whichever unfortunate hitters have to face him.The 27-year-old Pittsburgh native has been a different kind of dominant so far this season. In 11 games, he has a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA, recording eight saves in 11.1 innings pitched. He has allowed just four baserunners to start the season, yielding just two singles and two walks.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMWhat makes Miller’s scoreless start to the season even more impressive? He has faced 38 batters and struck out 27 of them, good for an otherworldly 71.1% strikeout percentage. He averages 21.4 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.Yet, even if Miller keeps up his video game-like start to the season, does he have a realistic chance to win the Cy Young? Highly unlikely.The Padres closer currently has the fifth-shortest odds to win the NL Cy Young, according to Draftkings.So, what does Miller have to do to feasibly have a chance to win the NL Cy Young? Something not seen before.MAMDANI TAKES ‘CURSE OF THE MAMBINO’ ON THE CHIN AS METS’ 11-GAME SKID SETS FRANCHISE RECORDFirst, let’s look back at the previous nine relievers to win the Cy Young Award.Mike Marshall, Dodgers, 1974Sparky Lyle, New York Yankees, 1977Bruce Sutter, Chicago Cubs, 1979Rollie Fingers, Milwaukee Brewers, 1981Willie Hernandez, Detroit Tigers, 1984Steve Bedrosian, Philadelphia Phillies, 1987Mark Davis, Padres, 1989Dennis Eckersley, for the then-Oakland Athletics, 1992Eric Gagné, Dodgers, 2003We can safely rule out Marshall (208 innings pitched), Lyle (137 innings pitched), Sutter (101.1 innings pitched), and Hernandez (140.1 innings pitched) as comparisons because Miller will not pitch nearly as many innings this season. Miller is on pace to throw roughly 81 innings this season.CUBS’ CO-OWNER PUSHES BACK ON WOKE BACKLASH MATT SHAW RECEIVED FOR ATTENDING CHARLIE KIRK’S MEMORIALMiller’s projected 81 innings falls in line with the other five relievers. Fingers threw 78 innings, Bedrosian threw 89, Davis threw 92.2, Eckersley threw 80, and Gagne threw 82.1.Bedrosian had a 2.83 ERA in his year, but Miller will have to pitch better than that to win the award. Paul Skenes, who won the 2025 NL Cy Young, was 10-10 with a 1.97 ERA in 187.2 innings pitched in 32 starts.Skenes, the odds-on favorite at the time of this writing, currently has a 3-1 record in five starts with a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings pitched. His ERA is inflated because he allowed five runs and only recorded two outs against the New York Mets on Opening Day. In the four starts since, he has allowed just three runs.So, let’s look further into Davis, Eckersley, and Gagné’s cases.Davis, in 62 games, had a 4-3 record, 44 saves, and a 1.85 ERA
Padres’ Mason Millers path to Cy Young requires unprecedented dominance from a closer
