{"id":108383,"date":"2025-10-14T17:53:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T21:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=108383"},"modified":"2025-10-14T17:53:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T21:53:03","slug":"padres-considering-moving-mason-miller-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/14\/padres-considering-moving-mason-miller-rotation\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres Considering Moving All-Star Reliever to Rotation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">The San Diego Padres were a juggernaut in 2025, thanks mostly to their lockdown bullpen, anchored by closer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/suarero01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Suarez<\/a> and setup man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=millema03,miller005mas&amp;search=Mason+Miller&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mason Miller<\/a>, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/31\/padres-acquire-mason-miller\/\" target=\"_self\">acquired on July 31st<\/a> from the Athletics. The Padres are now considering transitioning Miller to the starting rotation ahead of the 2026 season.<\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">General Manager A.J. Preller told &#8220;97.3, The Fan&#8221; on Tuesday that the Padres will have more communication with the players moving forward when asked about Mason Miller potentially moving into the starting rotation next year. Preller added that the team will be in touch in the coming weeks for that type of conversation.<\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_108390\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-108390\" style=\"width: 867px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-108390\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"867\" height=\"578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27059181_168400885_lowres.jpg 2045w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-108390\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sep 11, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller (22) throws during the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">Padres May Move Mason Miller to Starting Rotation<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">AJ Preller was asked if Mason Miller has been given a directive to prepare to move to the starting rotation or if he&#8217;ll remain in the bullpen in 2026 and if he expects Yu Darvish to be in the team&#8217;s starting rotation next season: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fqlsWEeMEv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fqlsWEeMEv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/973TheFanSD\/status\/1978166261843468489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">When Miller first came up in 2023 with the Athletics, he began as a starter, and the numbers were solid overall, posting a 3.78 ERA in 33 1\/3 innings. The best part? Miller had a 26.7% K rate, which would play very well as a starter for years to come. Looking at his <a  href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/mason-miller-695243?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb&amp;season=2023\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baseball Savant<\/a> page, Miller has an arsenal that would play well as a starter, featuring a fastball, cutter, slider, and changeup, all with different breaking points that can fool hitters.<\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<h3 data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">Potential Problems<\/h3>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">With all the positives, there are two clear cautions to this move from the Padres\u2019 perspective. The first concern centers on Miller\u2019s health and workload. Given how hard he throws \u2014 routinely touching 102\u2013103 mph \u2014 the added strain of pitching multiple innings per outing significantly increases the risk of arm fatigue or injury over a full season. This was precisely why the Athletics transitioned Miller to the bullpen in 2023 after his early starts, hoping to preserve his electric stuff by limiting exposure and pitch counts. The Padres must be cautious not to jeopardize his long-term durability by ramping up his innings too aggressively.<\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">The second issue relates to bullpen depth and late-game reliability. With reports indicating that Robert Su\u00e1rez is likely to opt out of his contract and test free agency, San Diego could find itself without a proven closer if Miller shifts into a starting role. Losing both Su\u00e1rez and Miller from the back end of the bullpen would leave a significant void, and the organization doesn\u2019t currently have many internal candidates with closing experience or the elite velocity required to fill that role. The Padres may need to explore the free-agent or trade market to stabilize the ninth inning should they fully commit to Miller\u2019s transition to the rotation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\"><\/div>\n<div data-block-type=\"BLOCK_TYPE_PARAGRAPH\">Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The San Diego Padres were a juggernaut in 2025, thanks mostly to their lockdown bullpen, anchored by closer Robert Suarez and setup man Mason Miller, who was acquired on July 31st from the Athletics. The Padres are now considering transitioning Miller to the starting rotation ahead of the 2026 season. General Manager A.J. Preller told [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5663,"featured_media":108389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"1760400000","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"Padres wanting to move Mason Miller to the starting rotation","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1071,35],"tags":[280,28481,6448],"class_list":["post-108383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-mlb","category-news","tag-a-j-preller","tag-mason-miller","tag-robert-suarez"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108383"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108391,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108383\/revisions\/108391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}