Fantasy baseball: A’s flame-thrower Mason Miller has emerged as elite closer

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 might think of a team that entered Friday hitting a league-worst .207, with one player hitting above .264 and nine below .200. Or a team with a starting rotation that was 7-14 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.413 WHIP. 

You don’t necessarily think of a 6-foot-5 flamethrowing closer who was the most added reliever in ESPN leagues this week and was one of the five most added players overall.

Since allowing two earned runs and walking one in his first appearance of the season March 30, Mason Miller has dominated opponents.

In his past 11 appearances (47 batters faced), he pitched 13 ¹/₃ scoreless innings while allowing just four hits and issuing three free passes.

Opponents hit .091 with a .285 OPS and 28 strikeouts (59.6 percent of the batters faced) in that span. 

Oh, he was also 8-for-8 in save opportunities during that stretch. 

According to Statcast, Miller ranks in the top 9 percent of the league in exit velocity (85.5), the top 7 percent in maximum exit velocity (102.6 mph) and the top 3 percent in WOBA.

He is in the top 1 percent in xBA (.086), xSLG (.134), xWOBA (.138), hard-hit percentage (19), strikeout rate (53.7 percent) and xERA (0.80). 

In fact, the only categories he isn’t ranked near the top in are walk rate (7.4) and ground-ball rate (38.1 percent).

Among relievers, Miller ranks first in strikeouts per nine (18.21), second in swinging-strike rate (21.9 percent), 20th in opponents average (.140), 16th in WHIP (0.77) and 22nd in ERA (1.26).

Opponents are also making contact just 54.6 percent of the time against him and just 35.9 percent of the time when pitches are outside the strike zone. 

Miller is doing this with, for the most part, just two pitches.

He is dominating with his fastball — which averages 100.7 mph, according to Statcast, and tops out at a ridiculous 104.2 mph.

Opponents are hitting .185 against his heater (.112 xBA) with 16 strikeouts, .563 OPS and 25.6 swinging-strike rate. He also has a 48.6 percent whiff rate with the pitch, which he uses 57.6 percent of the time. 

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Amazingly, he may be even more dominant with his slider.

Opponents are hitting .087 (.056 xBA) against it with a 54.2 percent strikeout rate, 4.2 percent walk rate, 48.6 percent whiff rate and 17.2 percent swinging-strike rate. 

Even more amazing: There are no signs in any of his underlying numbers that would indicate what he is doing is unsustainable.

It is quite the opposite. His xERA, FIP (minus-0.07), xFIP (0.90) and BABIP (.330) all point to him being better than he already has been, if that is possible.

Oh, and he still is available in close to 35 percent of ESPN leagues (and 15 percent at Yahoo). 

That being said, Miller is in high demand, and maybe you want to cash in while his stock is soaring.

Maybe you can find a trade partner and get a buy-low candidate like Julio Rodriguez, Austin Riley or other struggling studs for a package that includes Miller.

(Roto Rage is not advocating you trade the hulking 25-year-old, just merely pointing out that this may be an ideal time to get a huge return for him.) 

If that kind of a deal isn’t possible, keep Miller on your squad — he is only going to get better, as long as he stays healthy (that feels like a natural disclaimer that should follow an endorsement for any pitcher nowadays — especially one who regularly throws 104 mph).

Big hits

Alec Bohm 1B/3B, Phillies 

Carried a 15-game hit streak into Friday night, going 29-for-60 (.483) with three homers, 20 RBIs, 11 runs and a 1.315 OPS in that span. 

Jon Gray SP, Rangers 

After allowing five earned runs in his first start, he allowed four over his next six appearances while going 1-1 with a 1.24 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a .194 opponents average. 

Luis Rengifo 2B/3B/SS/OF, Angels 

Available in 50 percent of ESPN leagues, he is hitting .327 with a .903 OPS and seven stolen bases over his past 17 games before Friday. 

Nick Lodolo SP, Reds 

Striking out 11.6 per nine innings in his first four starts while limiting opponents to a .177 average. He already has picked up three wins.

Big Whiffs

Ronald Acuna Jr. OF, Braves 

Entered the weekend having not homered since April 17. In 12 games since, he hit .192 with 18 strikeouts and a .534 OPS. 

Adrian Houser SP, Mets 

Has no wins this season and is 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA, 13-17 strikeout-walk rate and .306 opponents average in his past five starts. 

Randy Arozarena OF, Rays 

Entered Friday with just five hits in his previous 59 at-bats (.085) while striking out 22 times with a .334 OPS. 

Marcus Stroman SP, Yankees 

Has not lasted more than 5 ¹/₃ innings in any of his past four starts while going 1-1 with a 5.95 ERA, five homers allowed and .299 opponents average. He also walked 12 during that stretch.

Check swings

Austin Riley followed an 11-game hit streak, in which he hit .333 with a .947 from April 6-17, by going 7-for-45 (.156) with no homers, 14 strikeouts and a .469 OPS in 12 games before Friday. Six of his seven hits during that stretch were singles. He is a great buy-low candidate. 

After going 16-for-38 (.421) with two homers, eight RBIs, eight runs, a stolen bases and 1.121 OPS, Jurickson Profar was the most added player in ESPN leagues as of Friday morning. 

Who was the second-most added player? That would be Minnesota backstop Ryan Jeffers, who went 13-for-33 (.394) with two homers, seven RBIs, seven runs, a stolen base and 1.185 OPS in his past 10 games. 

Trea Turner raised his average from .222 on April 7 to .336 after hitting .378 with two homers, seven RBIs, 21 runs, six stolen bases and a .945 OPS over his past 23 games. 

Opponents are hitting .308 with 10 homers and a .927 OPS against Joe Musgrove this season. He allowed 29 earned runs over his first 41 innings (6.37 ERA) and had career-worst marks in WHIP and walk rate. 

Kutter Crawford allowed more than two earned runs to score only one time in his first seven starts while going 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA and .201 opponents average.

Team name of the week

Down Whit the Sickness