(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Seattle Mariners rookie Bryce Miller has made two starts at the MLB level this year.
He made the first one on May 2 against the Oakland Athletics, and he pitched six innings with just one run, no walks and 10 strikeouts.
While most people were excited to see another young hurler dominate, some wrote that start off because it was against a poor team like the A’s.
Well, he did it again on Sunday against one of the best lineups in the majors: the Houston Astros.
He tossed six scoreless frames with a walk and five punchouts, earning the win against the reigning World Series champs.
Miller is young and throws his fastball at 96.1 mph on average.
However, it’s not velocity that makes his fastball special.
The velo is nice but what’s elite is his fastball “rise”.
25% of Spencer Strider’s fastballs this year have dropped 9″ or less. That’s really awesome.
Bryce Miller? 49%. https://t.co/2rcBgu3QgC
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 7, 2023
The fastball “rise” effect means that the ball drops less while reaching the plate.
It doesn’t really “rise.”
However, we know gravity affects every pitch: some pitchers, like Miller, throw the ball with the right spin axis and strength to give the impression to the hitter that it doesn’t really drop.
This makes a four-seamer much more difficult to hit.
It’s why guys like Cristian Javier and Spencer Strider, just to name a couple, have succeeded in MLB: their fastballs have that rise effect that makes them incredibly hard to square or even hit.
In the case of Miller, 49% of his fastballs have dropped nine inches or less, which is amazing.
Fewer drop leads to more swings and misses, more swings and misses lead to strikeouts, and more strikeouts lead to success.
Miller has a bright future in MLB.
The post Mariners Rookie Is Dominating Thanks To 1 Specific Pitch appeared first on The Cold Wire.