Padres’ Ramon Laureano admits hilarious reality of Mason Miller’s 9th inning dominance

One of the most dominant pitchers in baseball right now is San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller. The right-handed flamethrower has allowed just one hit on the season, and that was to his former teammate, Luis Arraez, very early in the season. Since the start of 2026, Miller has struck out 23 hitters in 9.1 innings for a 22.2 K/9. He’s only walked one batter this season as well.

On Friday’s Foul Territory, Padres outfielder Ramon Laureano was on as a guest and was asked about Mason Miller’s dominance.

Ramón Laureano jokes that he's thought about just taking his glove off in the outfield when Mason Miller pitches.

Laureano also admitted to taking the whole time in the one plate appearance he's had against Miller. pic.twitter.com/FeTkL3hY1g

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 17, 2026

Laureano hilariously said that he would consider taking his glove off when Miller is out there in the 9th inning. The crew even convinced him to say yes.

“It’s like the only time in my career where I’m just watching,” he said. “I don’t even care about making a play because I am not going to make a play. I have thought about taking my glove off, but like, like that would be so disrespectful. It’s really unbelievable.”

When he faced Miller for the only time in his career, he ended up walking in the at-bat.

“I told him that I was taking the whole time, and I walked,” he said.

Miller has really worked on his control this season with the improvment with his slider. He’s been using the slider so much that hitters are chasing and not coming close to contact. Because Miller can throw 103+, hitters tend to try to focus on keeping up with the heater. That hasn’t worked out so well in 2026 with Miller using the Slider more often. We’ll see how long it takes before Miller starts prioritizing the fastball.

On Thursday night, Miller accomplished something not seen in 120 years.

“He’s struck out 23 of the 30 batters he’s faced. His 76.7% strikeout rate is the highest recorded by a pitcher in his first 9 appearances of a season in the last 120 years.”

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