Mason Miller’s fastball is the pitch that makes the whole stadium lean forward, but the Padres closer has another offering tucked away in his arsenal. The catch is simple: he almost never gets to use it.
Miller does have a changeup, and he’s been working on it. But when you’re finishing games with the season hanging in the balance, there isn’t much room for experimentation. That’s the bind he described in a piece by Jared Greenspan of MLB.com.
"I'd love to tell you that I'm going to start throwing it 20 percent [of the time]," Miller said in during the Padres last road trip. "But my other two pitches, the fastball and slider, are really good.
The game is usually on the line, so I'm not trying to get beat on my third pitch. But I'd love to throw it more."
The pitch itself is still a work in progress, and Miller has been chasing little adjustments to make it usable more often. One recent tweak came after he tried a grip used by Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal. The two were teammates in the WBC, and Skubal told Miller he needs to slow the pitch down, even though that runs against the usual logic for someone who throws as hard as Miller does.
"I'm like, 'I'm trying,'" said Miller, whose new changeup averages 96.6 mph, per Greenspan.
Part of the challenge is simply choosing the right hitter. Miller knows there are batters against whom the changeup makes sense, especially if they struggle to handle his fastball. But he also knows that flipping to a slower pitch can backfire if it helps a hitter gear up in the wrong direction.
"It makes sense to [throw it] to some guys," Miller said. "I also have to show myself that I can throw it for a strike and use it competitively, which I really haven't been able to do. ... Just picking my spots when I have an opportunity to attack a guy that has a weakness with it where it makes sense, versus doing a guy a favor throwing something right in the middle of the plate."
And with the Padres locked into a pennant race, the timing doesn’t exactly invite a long trial run. Miller is pitching in meaningful games every time he takes the mound, which means the changeup will probably stay more of a project than a regular weapon for now.
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