There are more intricate ways to measure a pitcher’s talent and effectiveness than the digits on a radar gun, but none quite so visceral. The Padres acquired Mason Miller from the California Athletics because of the fact that he strikes out an absurd number of hitters on his fastball/slider combo. That fastball, however, is thrilling just on its own terms, because Miller throws it an average of 101 miles per hour. When you see a pitcher with that kind of cannon, watching the radar readings becomes its own sort of sport: Can he top 102? Can he do it again? Since every fan has traveled in a car with a speedometer at some point in their life, that data is far more comprehensible than, say, inches of break. And when you see a number like “104,” there’s not much more that needs to be said beyond “Whoa.”
Miller’s first outing at a Padre, last Friday, saw him start by allowing two hits but quickly clean them up with a K and a double play. Returning to the mound in the eighth inning on Tuesday against the Diamondbacks, with his team leading 5-3, his stuff was just as eye-popping. But the results were a little rockier. Miller got a line-out to right on his first pitch, and he used his slider four out of five pitches to get a strikeout on Ketel Marte. But then he struggled to tame his own strength as he walked Geraldo Perdomo on exclusively fastballs that went by in a blink. That brought Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the plate, with the chance to tie the game.
One of the most consistently solid hitters in baseball through his first seven seasons, the 31-year-old is having one of those years where the breaks just aren’t falling his way (his earlier homer in this game off a Yu Darvish hanger notwithstanding). But if there’s one thing he’s particularly good at, it’s making contact with fastballs, and boy howdy did that make him kryptonite for the Padres’ superreliever.
This at-bat ruled in large part because we live in an era when the radar gun reading flashes on-screen as soon as the ball is caught or hit. It puts extra emphasis on the game of chicken played between flamethrower and batter. Based on the info from Arizona’s graphics department, Miller’s first pitch to Gurriel went 102 up in the zone for a very poorly called ball one. (These speed demons are hard on umps, too.) The next was a slider that dropped into the strike zone at a mere 89 mph. The third pitch of the AB hit 102 again, fouled off by a late swing. Then 104, barely fouled off. Another slider at 90, which Gurriel swung at early and fouled. He seemed caught between anticipating the gas and trying to catch up with it. Then 104, again, right down Broadway and tipped backward by the man at the plate.
In retrospect, Miller probably shouldn’t have done what he did next. He challenged Gurriel with the exact same 104-mph cheese, and this time, his enemy had the timing down. Gurriel crushed it. The final numbers: 103.9 mph on the way in, 107.1 mph on the way out, and 439 feet later, we had a new champ for fastest pitch homered since MLB started tracking them all in 2008.
Despite producing the coolest highlight, the game ended in more disappointment for Arizona, a 10-5 loss in 11 innings. Gurriel was the final batter in the home half of the 10th, with the winning run in scoring position. This time, on a 99 mph sinker that was way, way inside, he broke his bat hitting into a double play. There’s always room for improvement.
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