3rd-round pick Miller a tale of perseverance
Around this time three years ago, the thought of Mason Miller being drafted by a Major League club at all, let alone a third-round pick by the A’s in 2021, would have been preposterous.
Back then, Miller was struggling through a 7.16 ERA for his 2018 sophomore season in Division III baseball at Waynesburg University. Though his frame was solid at 6-foot-5, he only weighed around 150 pounds due to issues gaining weight after he’d been diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes earlier that year. But then, Miller went through a transformation.
"His story’s a little bit different than probably a lot of guys," A's scouting director Eric Kubota said.
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Finding the right diet and strength training program, Miller was finally able to bulk up to 220 pounds. With that weight gain came added velocity to his fastball, pushing it from 87-88 mph to as high as 99 mph, which improved his stuff to the point where he was able to transfer to a Division I school in Gardner-Webb University.
Three years later, it’s easy to see why the A’s selected Miller in the third round (97th overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft. His newfound heater was on full display at Gardner-Webb last season as he went 8-1 with a 3.30 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 92 2/3 innings.
Miller was also a star in the classroom, earning his undergraduate degree in finance from Waynesburg in May 2020 just before transferring.
On the pitching side, Miller brings a repeatable delivery to the mound that the A’s really like. His three-pitch mix includes a changeup and slider, both of which have been able to play up as an effect of the increased velocity on his fastball.
Turning 23 in August, Miller is a bit on the older side for a third-round pick. But as Kubota put it, “pitchers develop at different rates,” and Miller could be a late bloomer.
“Mason Miller has got a great body,” Kubota said. “He’s up to 99 or 100, depending on which [radar] gun you look at. We just think there’s tremendous upside with the body and the arm strength and strike-throwing ability.”