A's Calling Up Mason Miller, Per Report
On Friday night, the Oakland A's walked 17 batters against the New York Mets en route to a 17-6 loss. Down in Triple-A Las Vegas, Mason Miller, the club's top pitching prospect, was making his 2023 Vegas debut, and went nearly five perfect innings with eleven strikeouts. The only baserunner allowed came on a strikeout that got away from the catcher. His final line: 5 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K.
Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Miller is headed to Oakland and could be in line to start Wednesday's series finale against the Chicago Cubs.
The top prospect is not currently on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will have to be made, which is likely why the move has not been made official by the team at this time.
Miller, 24, was selected by the A's in the 3rd round of the 2021 Draft. He has absolutely dominated when he has been on the mound, but injuries have kept him from consistently being on the field. Since turning pro, Miller has racked up 28.2 innings and a 2.83 ERA. In that time he has struck out 53 and walked just six. He has yet to walk a batter this season in two starts (one with Double-A Midland, one with Las Vegas) in 8.2 innings while striking out 19.
Miller's main pitch is his fastball that sits comfortably at 97-102. In his start on Friday, he averaged 100 mph with the heater. He also worked in his cutter that sits 95-98, and his slider that averaged 87 mph.
This spring he got the start against the Seattle Mariners (including a lot of big league regulars) and went 2 IP, gave up two hits, three runs, didn't allow a walk, and struck out five.
With the call-up, the question will be how many pitches he can throw in his big-league debut. The A's need fresh arms, and he has the ability to dominate a lineup. He only threw 64 pitches in his outing on Friday night.
Injuries will also be a concern, but after a 3-14 start to the season, the A's could use a jolt. Mason Miller could be that jolt.