Fastball

Mason Miller of the Oakland A's Continues to Do Things That No One Else Can Do

Oakland Athletics' closer Mason Miller, who is the most electric arm in the sport right now, continues to befuddle opposing hitters. Even though the Athletics lost to the Astros on Tuesday night, Miller did his part, striking out five batters in two innings of work by pumping constant 100+ MPH fastballs.

Brady Farkas

May 8, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Mason Miller (19) delivers a pitch.
May 8, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Mason Miller (19) delivers a pitch. / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
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The Oakland Athletics lost to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, 2-1, at MinuteMaid Park.

For a game that featured just three total runs, it still had plenty of fireworks with Astros' pitcher Ronel Blanco getting ejected for "sticky stuff" and A's closer Mason Miller just pumping 100+ MPH fastballs late in the game.

Miller, the electric young closer, pitched two scoreless innings in the contest, which eventually went 10 innings.

He allowed no runs on no hits and one walk in his two innings, lowering his season ERA to a microscopic 0.98. Furthermore, he simply continues to do things that other pitchers can't do.

Per @CodifyBaseball:

Mason Miller is the first MLB pitcher to strike out 5 batters in the 8th and 9th inning of a game this season.

And this one, with regards to Miller's elite velocity:

6 times this year MLB pitchers have thrown 3 or more pitches at 102+ MPH in one game. Their names: Mason Miller, Mason Miller, Mason Miller, Mason Miller, Mason Miller, and Mason Miller.

And by the way, the hitters that Miller struck out? It's a group of generally revered and feared sluggers: Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Pena, Alex Bregman and Jon Singleton.

The 25-year-old Miller made his major league debut in 2023 as a starting pitcher, but dealt with some elbow problems that limited him to just 10 games in total. Thus, he came back this year as a full-time reliever, and is already one of the best in the game.

He has struck out 38 batters in 18.1 innings and has a WHIP of just 0.65.

The A's and Astros will play again on Wednesday night at 8:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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