NL WILD CARD SERIES: CUBS VS PADRES

September 30, 2026

Mason Miller

Petco Park

San Diego Padres

Pregame Press Conference

Q. You've been Joe Musgrove's teammate for a little bit of time now. Him trotting in from the bullpen yesterday, getting warmed up, you had a pretty good seat to what was going on out there. Your perspective on that moment last night?

MASON MILLER: Pretty special moment. To get to share that with him, spend a little extra time out in the bullpen. We've all been rooting for him because we know how hard he's been working the last couple years.

Just getting to see him do that at home, no less, the support from the fans, it was pretty special to watch.

Q. When you reflect on what this team's bullpen was as a whole this year start to finish in the regular season, what stands out?

MASON MILLER: I think just consistency across the board. Guys that were here from start to finish, guys that came in and came out on the IL or whatever it may have been, I think it's just a group that kind of comes together and gets the best out of each other. I think we create an environment that does that, so I think that's pretty valuable.

Q. Mason, you had a pretty good view of that game last night and the crowd. A lot's been made of that, even on a national level. When San Diego and Petco Park shows up, it kind of jumps through the TV screen. What's your perspective on what this place is, and as it goes, the noise that really never goes away throughout the entire game?

MASON MILLER: It's pretty hard to quantify. You can look at a home record, road record, et cetera, but I think just playing here and having the support really throughout the season -- we have a lot of loud games throughout the year, and then you have one like last night, and we didn't even realize that's a level we could get to. Yeah, just having the support from the city and the fans is something we really cherish and love doing.

Q. The life of a closer, you really never can fully let down. You always have to have that slow adrenaline drip. How are you able to control that in the postseason as well? Have you got that process down, or do you kind of have to maybe fight your emotion a little bit wanting to get into a game in this kind of a crucible?

MASON MILLER: I think over the course of a career you learn how to pitch with it, whether it be on the road, you pitch in loud environments, or at home. Pitching at home is awesome. Just having that noise supporting you as opposed to going against you is really, really huge.

I'm looking forward to it. Haven't gotten the chance to play at home Petco -- Petco game that I've pitched in yet. So I'm looking forward to that hopefully tonight.

Q. Ethan Salas becomes the youngest in Major League Baseball history to start a game behind the plate. What makes him special?

MASON MILLER: A lot of things, yeah. I think it's just the maturity that he carries despite his age. I know even before I was here, he's been around the Big League guys in Spring Training and working with guys, developing trust. He's catching Nick tonight after working with him on his rehabs. They have a good relationship.

They trust him, I trust him. I know a lot of pitchers feel really good about throwing to him. Then you add in the types of at-bats he takes, working counts, willing to go the other way, put it up in the air and over the fence too. He's that full package that I think is only going to get better over time too.

Q. How scary is that when you're talking about someone that's 20 years of age, the level of trust you have? In what ways do you see, hey, this guy is beyond his years the most?

MASON MILLER: I think just the slow motor. It's easy to let the moment or games speed up, I think, especially behind the plate. He's done a really good job of kind of controlling that. Every time he comes out for a visit or talking between innings, it's very calm, collected, thoughtful, even if he has to go out and take an at-bat as well.

Q. The bullpen's been asked a lot of this year. Can you speak to the camaraderie of the unit and the mindset of we're just going to do whatever is asked of us, if it's extra innings or extra outs? Just what you build back there.

MASON MILLER: It doesn't start or end with one guy. I think that's kind of the realization you have to come to is that you want to try and shoulder as much as you can, but we feel really good about pass the ball to the next guy.

So it's just kind of do your part, whatever that may look like that day, and get the ball to the next guy. We feel really, really good about every single guy down there coming into a game.

Q. Your closer entrance is pretty remarkable on a normal regular season game. Have you thought about what it might be in a postseason game?

MASON MILLER: Not really. It's pretty electric every time I come in. I'm really, really juiced to go into a game regardless; but when the fans get into it, it makes it a whole 'nother level.

Q. How impactful do you think it was, what Michael did last night, the fact that the entire bullpen is pretty much fresh going into the final one or two games?

MASON MILLER: Yeah, it's huge. Getting that effort from Michael setting the tone is huge, but the ability to go seven innings is certainly something we weren't surprised by, but definitely really happy he was able to do that. It allowed the offense to extend the lead a little bit and carry a lot of momentum into Game 2. So it was a huge effort from Mike.

Q. You guys are obviously close with Nick Pivetta out in the bullpen. What type of competitor is he, and how fun is it to watch him pitch?

MASON MILLER: He just loves competition, no matter what it is. I think yesterday, we know he's not pitching, but he still had that kind of like nerves and ready to go. So we're just excited for him to take the ball tonight and set the tone for us again.

Q. Expanding on the freshness of the bullpen for the rest of the series, how well does that bode for the rest of the postseason potentially as well? Obviously you guys have been asked a lot this year. How big is it to have a little bit more of a grace period going into the rest of the series and the remainder of the postseason?

MASON MILLER: Looking at the big picture and kind of realizing what everybody's goal is in the postseason is to go all the way and to win. Bullpen usage is definitely a huge part of playoff success, but I think over the course of the postseason, the sustainability of it, it's going to be efforts like that from Mike that probably is going to be the difference from us that allows us to lean a little bit more on the bullpen on other nights and a little bit less on nights where we get a huge effort like that.

Q. Both you and Adrian are setting career highs in innings pitched, but how energized do you both feel this time of year?

MASON MILLER: You play 162, it feels like a marathon; and you get to the playoffs, and kind of all of that goes away. We're all playing for tonight and trying to win the game today and worry about tomorrow when it comes. You can't get too far ahead of yourself and start worrying about things down the road. You just focus on today.

So looking at the ability to rest last night for a lot of the guys and come in tonight with a full boat, I think that puts us in a really good spot.

Q. Just a couple of months ago before the trade deadline, we were asking players like yourself about the idea that you could get traded, it was a possibility. What do you make of the way the team really responded and found a way to win despite some early challenges?

MASON MILLER: Yeah, trades and all that noise is kind of always going to be surrounding a team, I think. I don't think there was ever really a doubt in our locker room as far as the group that we have and our abilities. Kind of catching it at the right time, I guess, put those to bed. Now we just keep it rolling.