Former Bethel Park ball player gets major league call

Mason+Miller+throws+the+ball+to+first+during+the+Hawks+game+vs.+Peters+Township+on+April+25%2C+2016.

Paul Studt SportsByPaul.com

Mason Miller throws the ball to first during the Hawks’ game vs. Peters Township on April 25, 2016.

Mason Miller played golf and baseball for the Hawks throughout his high school career. The 2016 graduate of the 21st Century Cyber Charter School got the call to make his MLB debut for the Oakland Athletics.

According to sources around the league, Mason Miller will make his debut as the starting pitcher for the Athletics Wednesday, April 19 against the Chicago Cubs. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:37 p.m.

Miller had a massive, quick rise.

Starting his college career at Waynesburg with a 7.16 ERA in his sophomore year. Following this, Miller worked through a battle with Type 1 diabetes. He added 65 pounds following a change to his diet and workout plan.

The next season saw a huge leap. Miller led his conference in earned-run average as a junior with a star-studded 1.86. He would eventually transfer up to division-1 Gardner Webb.

Miller would have another great season, working up a 3.30 ERA across 92 innings pitched and an impressive 121 strikeouts.

This spike in his stock would see him get drafted in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft, 97th overall to the Oakland Athletics.

Miller suffered an immediate setback in the minor leagues. After beginning his career in the minors with two perfect innings in rookie ball, he was sidelined with a shoulder strain through August of 2022.

 

Mason Miller fields the ball during the Hawks’ game vs. Peters Township on April 25, 2016. (Paul Studt SportsByPaul.com)

He pitched in the Arizona Fall League that year to get more professional innings under his belt, where he posted a 3.24 ERA with 20 strikeouts across 16 2/3 innings.

This year, Mason Miller began in AA where he pitched just three and two-thirds innings, racking up eight strikeouts to earn his call to AAA-Las Vegas. Las Vegas is known as one of the more hitter-friendly environments in minor-league baseball, but that didn’t hold Miller back. He tossed five innings, striking out 11, with a fastball that averaged an eye-popping 100.4 mph.

Oakland was impressed and after just 28 2/3 innings of minor league baseball, Miller would get the call to join the A’s rotation.

With a fastball that sits at 100 miles per hour, as well as a changeup, cutter, and slider, Miller will be looking to make his mark on an Oakland Athletics group that has struggled mightily to start the season. He will have the benefit of the pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum against a Cubs team that has had a solid start to the season in the NL Central.