A's infielder J.D. Davis: `The excitement when they come in feels like it's closing time and you guys have no shot.'
Since transitioning from starter to the next big thing among Major League Baseball closers, the Athletics’ Mason Miller has watched others who have reached the peak of their craft.
One of them is Camilo Doval, an All-Star closer in 2023 who plays across the bay for the Giants.
“He’s electric,” Miller said Wednesday before the A’s departed on a 10-game road trip that includes stops in Seattle, Houston and Kansas City. “Anyone who throws as hard as he does and with a wipeout slider too, it’s a really tough combo to see. And if you’ve got a guy like (the Giants’ Tyler) Rogers (who drops) down and gives you a different look in the seventh and eighth, that stuff is always going to play up.”
While Doval, 26, debuted with the Giants in 2021 and has played 75 games in his career, Miller, at age 25, is just getting started in the new role but already has baseball buzzing.
Four of Miller’s teammates — pitchers Alex Wood, Ross Stripling and Scott Alexander and infielder J.D. Davis — played for the Giants and have seen both closers up close and personal. None would be the least bit surprised if Miller and Doval wound up in the All-Star Game later this summer against each other with the game on the line at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field.
The degree to which managers Mark Kotsay of the A’s and Bob Melvin of the Giants can maximize the use of their closers while keeping them healthy will determine whether the A’s can actually approach .500 and whether the Giants are the playoff contenders they believe they are.
When Miller thrived during an East Coast swing that included trips to Baltimore and New York, his star ascended to greater heights. After striking out four batters in two innings in a non-save situation Wednesday against the Rangers, Miller’s earned run average dropped to 1.10. He’s also 8-for-8 in save opportunities.
What sets Miller apart is unparalleled velocity.
He has thrown 109 pitches of 100 miles per hour or more this season and 22 of 102-plus, both of which lead the majors. He’s had 33 strikeouts and four walks in 16 1/3 innings, an average of 18.2 strikeouts per nine innings, which also tops the majors.
When Miller pitches, teammates come to the dugout rail to get a closer look.
It has been that way with Doval, to the point where his musical entrance at Oracle Park includes a Latin beat and a light show.
The Dominican Republic native led the National League with 39 saves last season, trailing only Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase for the MLB lead with 44. While his overall numbers this season include a 2-0 record and a 3.95 earned run average with six saves in six opportunities, Doval has still dominated in games that he either won or saved, with one earned run in eight innings, 12 strikeouts, and two walks.
Although he can throw more than 100 miles per hour, Doval mostly tops out in the high 90s and looks to set up hitters for his wicked slider, which has resulted in 13 of his 17 strikeouts.
Like Miller, Doval leaves hitters feeling helpless and overmatched.
“Their aura is very similar,” Davis said. “You’re going to get a shutdown inning from either one of them. The excitement when they come in feels like it’s closing time, and you guys have no shot.”
There will be no light show for Miller, who joked to the “Foul Territory” podcast that there was concern the lights at the Coliseum might not come back on if they were shut off. Miller arrives with a video to the Nickelback song “Burn it to the Ground,” and even the minuscule home crowds have picked up the pace as he strides to the hill.
Miller and Doval’s styles are as different as their backgrounds. Miller grew up in the Pittsburgh area. He’s got hangar-straight shoulders and long arms, yet he manages to throw in a compact overhand motion to the plate as straight as a bullet train.
Doval is all arm and legs coming at the hitter at a disconcerting three-quarters motion that’s particularly disturbing to right-handed hitters.
“They’re similar in that their stuff is electric, but it’s different,” Stripling said. “Camilo is more twitchy and elastic. You watch him, and his hips are gone, and his arm is just along for the ride. Mason is more big and in your face with his strength. But as far as the electricity of their stuff, it’s exactly what you want in the back end of the bullpen.”
Both have a trait shared by many great closers — the ability to remain calm under pressure. Wood, who has played with veteran save artists Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel, says good closers are “like a snake waiting to strike.”
Doval can look borderline disinterested and although he’s been less effective in non-save situations, his outward demeanor seldom changes whether he allowed the last hit or recorded the last out.
“The thing that sticks out most about Camilo is he’s as cool as a cucumber,” Wood said. “Even in a big moment, he doesn’t show a lot. He’s just out there slinging it, and whatever happens, happens.
“Mason has similar qualities, but the biggest difference is when it’s over with, you see some pretty heavy fire to him.”
Alexander, a reliever on the A’s injured list who played for the Giants in 2022-23, said the distinction is subtle.
“They’re alike in that their attitudes and mentality are perfect for their role,” Alexander said. “Duvey doesn’t get overly excited and if it doesn’t work out, he’s ready to move on. Mason gets excited about the opportunity in the moment as opposed to being intimidated by it. He wants that challenge, and that’s what you need as a closer.”
While Miller’s four-seam fastball has accounted for all his pitches greater than 100 miles per hour, he also has a devastating slider and pinpoint control. Doval relies more heavily on his slider and he throws the fastball with a two-seam action that gives it sink as opposed to Miller’s high heat.
“It’s hard to say a hundred mile an hour fastball compliments your slider, but the slider is Camilo’s pitch,” Wood said. “That’s his go-to pitch, that’s what he feels most confident with and it’s his best pitch for sure. Mason’s slider is about as good as it gets too, but I’ve never seen a fastball like he has.”
