As the Brewers’ dugout emptied onto the field in a rush of euphoria to celebrate an improbable victory, Mason Miller walked off the field in the opposite direction. He was solemn and stared into the distance as chaos erupted around him. In his biggest outing of the season, he looked human. That didn’t happen often during his brilliant 2026 campaign. 

Miller allowed two runs on one hit while walking three that afternoon, as the Padres lost Game 2 of the NLDS to the eventual World Series champions. The outing was capped off by a brilliant at-bat from Jackson Chourio, who fought off a 104 mph 1–2 fastball, then took a nasty slider just below the zone before hammering a 101 mph four-seamer to center to score the game-tying and winning runs. The 4–3 victory gave Milwaukee a 2–0 lead in the series and San Diego wound up going down in four games. 

Miller took responsibility for the collapse, saying, “The cardinal rule is you don’t beat yourself. I beat myself today.”

That the lasting image of his year will be that slow walk off the mound in Game 2 is unfair. For much of the season, Miller was virtually unhittable. He had a remarkable season that began to unravel as his innings piled up down the stretch. If the overwhelming statistics and odds can be trusted, Miller will be named the NL Reliever of the Year on Wednesday night, a fitting reminder of just how dominant he was for most of 2026.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Miller turned in one of the greatest seasons by a closer ever. Since 2000, only two relievers—Éric Gagné in 2003 (4.7) and Liam Hendriks in 2019 (3.8)—have compiled more fWAR than Miller’s 3.7 in 2026. Miller’s 47.4% strikeout rate was better than any pitcher this year by nearly 10 percentage points—Jacob Misiorowski came closest at 37.9%—and finished just short of the all-time record for pitchers with at least 70 innings set by Josh Hader in 2019 (47.8%). Similarly, his 1.17 FIP is the second-best mark in history (min. 70 IP), behind only Gagné’s 0.86 FIP in 2003—though Gagné’s peak is clouded by admitted PED usage, making Miller’s clean season all the more impressive.

Through his first 53 appearances, Miller’s numbers were even more ridiculous. He was 4–1 with a 0.81 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 101 strikeouts against 20 walks in 55 ⅓ innings and 32 saves in 33 chances. He led all qualified relievers in ERA, fWAR (3.3), strikeout rate (48.1%), batting average against (.133), FIP (0.64) and average fastball velocity at an astonishing 101.4 mph. 

From that point forward, Miller wasn’t as sharp. He took a loss and blew a save in back-to-back appearances on Aug. 25 and 30, allowing a home run in each. They were the first two he had surrendered in more than a calendar year. Over his final 13 regular season outings, Miller’s ERA was 4.91 as he allowed eight earned runs and surrendered three homers over 14 ⅔ innings. He had surrendered just five earned runs through Aug. 24. 

The postseason reflected his late-season inconsistency. Miller allowed a hit while earning a save against the Cubs in Game 2 of the wild card series, then melted down in Game 2 of the NLDS while trying to earn a six-out save. It’s possible he just wore down as the season dragged on. Including the playoffs, he threw 76 ⅓ innings in 2026, surpassing his previous career high of 65 in ’24. 

Whatever the reason for Miller’s late-season swoon, there is little doubt he’s still the best reliever baseball has to offer. His combination of 101-plus mph fastballs and what might be MLB’s best slider make him nearly impossible to hit. That slider generated an expected batting average of .086 in 2026 and had a 56.3% whiff rate. Opponents had an xBA of just .192 on the fastball.

Two days after the bitter disappointment in Milwaukee, Miller had something far more important to celebrate. His wife Jordan gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son named Lincoln. 

“Obviously, Game 2 [was] not what I had hoped for or planned on,” Miller said. “Going from that feeling, not really contributing a whole lot to now being a dad and being able to be there for my wife, I think it's moments like that that give you the perspective that's important, that keep you grounded and go out and try to be the best that you can every single day.”

The new dad missed Game 3 of the NLDS, which the Padres won 4–3, before returning for Game 4. He tossed a scoreless seventh inning in what would be his final outing of the season.

Miller’s long walk off the mound illustrated the cruelty of being a closer. It is the most volatile position in baseball, and the loneliest. Not many pitchers have mastered it and enjoyed sustained success. The final three outs are the most difficult to get, and no one is better at doing it than Mason Miller. One game didn’t change that fact.

That afternoon in Milwaukee will forever be part of Miller’s otherwise extraordinary season. The blown save shouldn’t overshadow the months of brilliance that preceded it, though. Struggles like that are the nature of a position Miller played to near perfection in 2026.

His dominance, not his devastation, is what we should remember.