Padres’ Mason Miller Planning Major Change to Elevate Game Even Further

The San Diego Padres have started the 2026 off fairly well, even with their recent losing ways. Much of this has been due to the excellent bullpen that the front office put together, which is led by star closer Mason Miller.

Miller has emerged as one of the best pitchers all across baseball, starting the year with an incredible 34.2-inning scoreless streak that dated back to last season. His performance has given the Padres a real boost this year, and he is a true weapon late in games.

Overall, Miller has pitched in 18.2 innings for the Padres, posting an ERA of 0.96 with an unbelievable 38 strikeouts. But even with his success this season, Miller knows that he can be even better moving forward.

Miller issued two walks in a four-out save against the St. Louis Cardinals over the last weekend, and he wants to challenge guys more. This is why Miller said that he wants to use his flamethrowing fastball even more going forward.

“I think [opposing hitters are becoming] maybe a little bit more patient, but some of that’s a byproduct of not being in the zone as much on my end, too,” Miller said. “Overall, still getting swings-and-miss, and maybe [I need to] finish with the heater a little bit more.”

To this point in the season, Miller has used his slider 51.5% of the time. But for him to reach his maximum ability this year, he may need to use his fastball more, which has incredible heat to it.

Right now, Miller is on pace to throw approximately 421 pitches of 100 mph or more. His fastball is one of the better pitches in the game, and he wants to start mixing things up against opponents.

Opponents are hitting .167 against his fastball this season, but the slider is his best pitch, hence why he throws it more often. Against the slider, batters are hitting just .083 this season.

However, for Miller to truly dominate even more, he will need to mix things up on the mound. The players at this level are far too talented to allow him to keep throwing the same pitch over and over throughout the year.

Plus, if he throws the fastball more, he could reach his goal of throwing the fastball pitch in MLB history. Miller has gotten close, throwing a 104.5 mph pitch in the postseason last year.

But the record is 105.8 mph, so Miller still has some more work to do. However, nobody should doubt the right-hander, and if he continues to work on his fastball, the record could be broken sooner or later.

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