A's place Mason Miller on IL with fractured pinky

ANAHEIM -- The A’s placed All-Star closer Mason Miller on the 15-day injured list on Thursday with a fracture of the fifth metacarpal (pinky finger) in his left hand.

After some initial confusion about what caused the injury, A’s manager Mark Kotsay clarified the specifics of what happened. The non-pitching injury occurred when Miller pounded a padded training table out of frustration following Monday night’s 4-0 victory over the Astros. The right-hander closed out the win with a 1-2-3 ninth on 11 pitches.

“The truth is postgame Monday night after being done with his pitching, Mason came in the training room and was going through his recovery. He was reminded that he had a postgame lift to get in,” Kotsay said. “Out of a little frustration, he just kind of pounded his fist down on a padded training table out of emotion. Unfortunately, he’s not able to squeeze his glove and he got himself put on the IL.”

Kotsay added that Miller is in a cast and should be re-evaluated in a few weeks. While Miller can’t wear and squeeze a glove due to the injury, Kotsay said that the right-hander can continue throwing and will throw some side sessions in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Miller has emerged as the most electrifying closer in baseball this season, posting a 2.21 ERA in 34 appearances with 15 saves. The flamethrowing A’s rookie has struck out nearly half of his batters faced, leading all Major League relievers with 70 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings. Miller has thrown a whopping 306 pitches of at least 100 mph or harder, by far the most in MLB.

Miller’s brilliance was on full display during the All-Star Game at Globe Life Field earlier this month, when he broke the record for the fastest pitch in All-Star Game history (since pitch-tracking began in 2008) and earned the win for the American League after a dominant perfect inning that included strikeouts of National League stars Shohei Ohtani and Trea Turner.

There is no timetable for Miller to return at this time. Despite being a rookie with five years of control after 2024, Miller’s name has increasingly been swirling around in trade rumors in recent weeks. The timing of the injury is significant in that he will be on the IL through the July 30 Trade Deadline.

During an appearance on A’s Cast earlier this week, A’s general manager David Forst hinted that the club could look to keep Miller and other top players beyond this season.

"We’ll be opportunistic,” Forst said. “We may do some things. But anyone who expects we’re going to continue to just move guys for prospects will probably be disappointed because there are guys here we think are part of the team beyond this year.”

Miller’s placement on the injured list opens up a spot on the active roster for Ross Stripling, who returned from the IL on Thursday to start Oakland’s series opener against the Angels at Angel Stadium.

In terms of who will fill Miller’s void in the late innings of games, Kotsay was non-committal about one pitcher solely taking over the closer’s role. The A’s manager talked about using several pitchers -- such as Lucas Erceg, Tyler Ferguson, Austin Adams and Scott Alexander -- in a way that sets them up for success.