Tag: mason miller

A’s closer Mason Miller amazingly threw the fastest pitch in Oakland Coliseum history in the stadium’s final at-bat

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

For one final time, the Athletics had an opportunity to play in front of their fans in Oakland. And for closer Mason Miller, he was ready to give them his absolute best.

The All-Star righty entered Thursday’s game in the eighth inning against the Rangers to go for a four-out save. And if there’s one thing fans can expect from Miller, it’s absolute gas on the radar gun. But even for Miller, Thursday’s outing was the kind of farewell performance that Oakland Coliseum has never seen — nor will it ever see again.

In front of a crowd of 46,889 and battling through two delays (a fan on the field and a smoke bomb), Miller threw a 103.8 mph fastball that was fouled off. He ended the game on a 103.5 mph fastball the next pitch.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1839427795140948227

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1839426793599873480

That 103.8 mph fastball, though, was the fastest pitch an A’s pitcher has thrown at Oakland Coliseum in the Statcast era. And that just happened to be during the final at-bat in the stadium’s history.

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

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Mason Miller broke his pinky at the worst possible time for his escape from Oakland

Mason Miller was so close to pitching for a contender

Oakland Athletics closer Mason Miller has been one of the best pitchers in baseball on a team that has no use for players who are the best at anything.

The 25-year-old righty has 15 saves in 17 opportunities this year, twirling 40.2 innings for a sterling 0.836 WHIP and 2.21 ERA with 70 strikeouts on 14 walks (three of which were intentional).  He also just threw the fastest recorded pitch in All-Star Game history.

On a tanking Oakland team with the fourth-worst record in baseball (41-63), Miller is also the embodiment of the Bugatti parked in at a mobile home meme.

But fear not because MLB’s July 30 trade deadline is nearly here and certainly a high-profile closer under long-term club control will be among the hottest names discussed by contenders. All Miller has to do between now and then is just stay healthy and he’ll get to pitch the prime of his career on a World Series contender and OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, COME ON!

Initial reports from Oakland claimed the closer was hurt “pounding” a padded table, per MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos in a since-deleted tweet. But before you imagine this as Miller injuring himself with his own punch (which only last happened two weeks ago), you should know the reality is actually a lot dumber.

Gallegos clarified Miller simply placed his hand down awkwardly while preparing to do an exercise and fractured his left (non-throwing) pinky. Which, yeah, that actually sounds a lot more like something that would happen to an A’s player.

This whole scene is turning into a pretty apt metaphor for the current state of the franchise.

The price for Miller on the trade market was reportedly astronomical to begin with, but buyers have a way of convincing themselves to pay big price tags every year. It’s hard to imagine Oakland getting everything it wants for a player on the injured list — especially when he’s just as likely to be available next year at a lesser cost, too.

Here’s hoping Miller heals quickly and some team looks past this incident because his arm is just way too good to be hanging out in a stadium where even the padded tables are out to get you.

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Mason Miller made MLB All-Star Game pitching speed history with this devastating fastball

Mason Miller made MLB All-Star Game history with his fastball on Tuesday night.

Oakland A’s sensational rookie pitcher Mason Miller has become known for his blistering fastball.

During Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, Miller threw a pitch so devastating for the American League team that it broke a record for the history of the sporting event.

The MLB confirmed that this Miller pitch clocked in at 103.6 mph, making it the fastest pitch to ever be thrown at the All-Star Game in the pitch-tracking era that started in 2008.

Miller is just unbelievably talented, as this four-seam fastball is almost impossible for opposing batters to hit. Not only did Miller make the All-Star Game in his first MLB season; he made some history while he was there.

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A’s closer Mason Miller shared a hilarious story about Bryce Harper not wanting to face him

Seeing “104 mph” on the radar changed Bryce’s mind QUICK.

Second-year closer Mason Miller is the Oakland Athletics’ lone All-Star this season. And because the A’s are … well … the A’s, Miller got to Arlington by hopping aboard the Phillies’ private jet with the franchise’s record eight All-Stars. That travel arrangement gave Miller an opportunity to chat with Bryce Harper.

And we’re glad he did because it led to one great story to share.

Ahead of the Phillies’ series against the A’s, Harper had been curious about facing Miller. The closer burst onto the scene this season with devastating velocity to pair with almost unhittable breaking pitches. Well, the chance to see Miller pitch in person from the dugout changed Harper’s mind real quick.

In an interview with Pitching Ninja, Miller shared how Harper had been asking about him. But once he witnessed the A’s closer hit 104 mph on the radar gun to Brandon Marsh, he was fine missing out on the chance to bat against Miller.

“Ah, I’m good,” Miller described Harper as saying on the plane.

Unless he somehow faces Miller in Tuesday’s All-Star Game (doubtful given that Harper is a starter), the Phillies star won’t have to worry about seeing Miller until next season.

Still, fans loved that story from Miller — there might have been some mild recruiting at play. I wouldn’t want to face 104 either.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Oakland closer Mason Miller has a demoralizing reason for why the A’s haven’t given him a custom entrance

Mason Miller brings the heat, but someone else needs to fix the electricity at the Oakland Coliseum

The list of reasons why you should watch the Oakland A’s this season pretty much starts and ends with Mason Miller.

Simply put, the 25-year-old closer is absolutely nasty.

Miller’s fastball-slider combo is one of the best in the league and it’s not even that much of an argument. He ranks in the 100th percentile across MLB in expected ERA, expected batting average, fastball velocity, strikeout rate, whiff percentage and hard-hit percentage.

Which is all just a fancy way of saying this dude throws straight gas and makes even the best hitters look silly.

So you’d think with all the success he’s having, the Athletics would join the growing trend of epic entrances for closers that’s swept across baseball. Except it hasn’t, of course, for the most Oakland of reasons.

Accord to Miller during an appearance with Foul Territory, the team told him if they tried to turn off the lights at the Oakland Coliseum, they might not be able to get them back on.

This is just so crushing. Imagine being Miller, going toe-to-toe with the likes of Edwin Diaz, Felix Bautista or Jhoan Duran but not event getting a third of the same treatment.

The A’s need to figure something out here, even if they refuse to spend a single dollar on a stadium fix. Maybe they could bring back bullpen cars and have Miller pull up to the mound in a Maserati. Literally anything to show that this is no regular A’s arm taking the mound.

After all, this is Oakland. Who knows how many times they’ll even get to use their closer this year? Each Mason Miller appearance is a gift. It’s time the A’s treat them that way.

Meet Creighton’s Mason Miller, the son of a 2-time NBA championship winner

If Creighton’s Mason Miller seems familiar, it’s because you remember his dad’s NBA days.

If you watched the Creighton men’s basketball team defeat Akron in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament, you got to watch the son of an NBA legend in action.

Mason Miller, a sophomore forward for Creighton, is the son of former NBA player Mike Miller, a 17-year retired veteran who won two NBA titles with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.

The elder Miller played college ball at Florida before being drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2000. He coached Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee, to a TSAA Class AAA state title in his only season as a coach, where Mason Miller played for his dad before joining Creighton.

Now, the younger Miller will keep playing on in the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament with Creighton, where he scored 10 points for the Bluejays in that team’s opening-round victory.

*This post previously stated that Mike Miller was still the coach of Houston High. He left after the 2020-21 season.

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Fantasy Baseball Waivers: Pilfering the Pirates, Tigers and Athletics for versatile adds

The Tigers, Pirates and A’s might not seem like the most obvious rosters to search for fantasy help, but the stats don’t lie

There’s nothing more valuable in fantasy baseball than versatility.

If a guy can play in the outfield, middle infield and tackle either first or third base on a rare day, it’s impossible to pass up that potential. As we get further into the season, these types of super utility guys don’t stay available for long on the waiver wires.

This week we’ll dive into a few key pick-ups you should target as some hot starts to the year begin looking more and more sustainable.

We’ve also got two starting pitching options worth adding immediately. Here are five waiver adds to target right now.

All roster data via FantasyPros

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