Mason Miller brought the heat to his inning of work at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
The Oakland Athletics closer delivered a clean inning of work, striking out Shohei Ohtani and Trea Turner and forcing Ketel Marte to fly out.
But in that at-bat against Turner, Miller made history with the first pitch of the matchup, delivering a 103.6 m.p.h. fastball — the fastest offering at the All-Star Game in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
While the pitch was a ball, it was just one of eight heaters Miller threw in the inning to reach triple digits.
Miller needed just 12 pitches to work through the heart of the National League order, using those eight fireballing fastballs and four slides in the frame.
After Ohtani hit a three-run bomb earlier in the game, the 25-year-old Miller knew that he wasn’t going to let the two-time MVP take him deep.
“I wasn’t giving him one up, that’s for sure,” Miller told Tom Verducci of Fox Sports after the inning. “I got the second strike. I think that one might have been down a little bit, but got that and then got to the backfoot slider.”
Miller has burst onto the scene as one of the most dominant relievers in baseball this season in Oakland. The six-foot-five righty has delivered 39.2 innings with a 2.27 ERA while registering 15 saves for the Athletics.
His electric fastball, which averages 101.2 m.p.h., combined with a nasty slider, has made him one of the most difficult pitchers to face in MLB.
Miller currently ranks first among all relievers in strikeout rate, punching out 46.7 per cent of the hitters he faces. He has also managed to keep his walks down and is holding opponents to a .147 average against.
