Athletics’ Mason Miller turning heads as high-velocity closer
OAKLAND — It’s not so much the three digits on the radar gun that are impressive as the fact that it looks so effortless for Mason Miller. If Miller played for any other team than the Oakland-turned-Sacramento-someday Las Vegas Athletics, he’d be all over SportsCenter. As it is, Miller’s high-velocity conversion from promising starter to closer is starting to gain momentum as a league-wide story. The Athletics completed a six-game road trip in Detroit and Texas winning both series and Miller getting his first two saves with his four-seam fastball and wipeout slider. In a 1-0 win over the Rangers Wednesday, Miller threw nine consecutive pitches at 100 miles per hour or better, topping out at an obscene 104. Five pitches were 102 or better. What’s it like to throw that hard? “It’s pretty cool for sure,” Miller said Friday before the A’s began a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at the Coliseum. “I mean, the fastball for me, just try not to do too much with it. The ones I try to get on and throw harder, they end up not getting as