The Oakland Athletics have little hope of contending in 2023 and have many important issues to solve off the field.
However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have quality players.
In fact, rookie Mason Miller was called up to make his MLB debut on Wednesday afternoon, and boy, he was impressive.
Results-wise, he was good but not great: he conceded two runs to the Chicago Cubs lineup in 4.1 innings.
He gave up four hits and a walk, while striking out five batters.
Stuff-wise, however, he is as impressive as they get.
Mason Miller’s Spectacular Stuff.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 19, 2023
He has a big, big fastball and isn’t afraid to use it.
He can dial it up to 100 mph, maxing out at 102 mph if necessary.
The pitch plays up at the top of the zone, where it gets a lot of whiffs because most hitters just can’t catch up with that kind of velocity.
To complement that offering, he has a very solid slider that has more vertical break than horizontal movement.
It checks in at about 88 mph and freezes hitters that are expecting the fastball.
He also throws a changeup and a cutter.
Miller has been affected by injuries for most of his career.
He even pitched just 14 innings in the minors last year.
This season, he started at Triple-A and had a sparkling 0.00 ERA in five innings, in which he struck out 11 batters.
He is one of the team’s potentially game-changing arms for the future, but they will need to bring him along slowly because his arm is not yet ready for a full MLB workload.
His stuff is otherworldly, though.
NEXT:
A’s Plan To Call Up Exciting Pitching Prospect
