Mason Miller has always been known as a strikeout pitcher.
The No. 3 prospect in the Athletics’ organization, Miller trotted out to the mound Friday night already owning a 16 K/9 rate in his Minor League career. That wasn’t enough for the right-hander, though, as he looked like an even different beast for Triple-A Las Vegas in its 14-4 win.
The 24-year-old threw five near-perfect innings, striking out 11 Salt Lake Bees. Only one hitter got on base, and even that came via a strikeout, albeit the dropped third-strike variety.
Even in Miller's one slip-up, he still managed to rack up one more punchout. It was a fitting end for the fireballer, who struck out the side twice.
Miller did everything in style Friday night, with 23 of his 64 pitches registering 100+ mph. Only eight of those missiles went for balls.
"I'm always confident in my fastball," Miller said. "The plan today was to go out and pound it in. Until they hit it, we were going to keep coming with it."
There’s a reason Miller’s fastball grades out as a 70 on MLB Pipeline’s 20-80 scouting scale -- it’s the most powerful tool Miller has at his disposal, and when it was working, he was unhittable.
Miller is now up to 19 strikeouts in his 8 2/3 innings (two starts) this year. Having yet to register a walk, his fastball is not the only thing driving his success, as his control has also been phenomenal.
Projected by MLB Pipeline to make his Major League debut in 2024, going almost perfect for five frames with that consistent velocity confirms that he’s certainly on the right trajectory -- or even blowing right on past it.
"When I'm throwing the ball the way I am, it's not hard to be confident," Miller said. "But I just want to keep carrying it into the next start. Tonight was great, and we're looking forward to the next time out there and to try to do the same thing again."