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The Cy Young Award has rarely entered the closer conversation with credibility, yet Mason Miller's 2025 numbers demand the discussion. Miller has not allowed a run this season and has struck out more than 70 percent of batters faced — a rate that, by any historical measure, places him in rarefied statistical territory for a relief pitcher. CBS Sports currently lists him among the top five Cy Young candidates in the American League.
The structural obstacle remains unchanged: voters have historically rewarded volume, and closers rarely accumulate the innings necessary to compete with elite starters. Miller's path to the award depends less on sustaining his current performance — which regression analysis would suggest is unlikely over a full season — and more on whether a shortened starter rotation or an injury-thinned field alters the calculus. Whether the electorate is prepared to weigh dominance over durability is the unresolved question his season has forced into the open.
The structural obstacle remains unchanged: voters have historically rewarded volume, and closers rarely accumulate the innings necessary to compete with elite starters. Miller's path to the award depends less on sustaining his current performance — which regression analysis would suggest is unlikely over a full season — and more on whether a shortened starter rotation or an injury-thinned field alters the calculus. Whether the electorate is prepared to weigh dominance over durability is the unresolved question his season has forced into the open.
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