Bethel Park pitcher makes MLB debut
Mason Miller started his career on the mound at Bethel Park High School. He helped the Black Hawks to a section title in 2016.
Mason Miller (5) was among six seniors who helped Bethel Park capture a section title in baseball in 2016. He was called up by the Oakland Athletics and pitched his first Major League Baseball game on April 19 against the Chicago Cubs.
Mason Miller
Mason Miller of Bethel Park made history on April 19 becoming the first Black Hawk to compete in the major leagues. He started on the mound for the Oakland A’s against the Chicago Cubs, who boast their own local product, Ian Happ of Mt. Lebanon.
In 4 1/3 innings, Miller struck out five, including the side in the first frame. He scattered four hits, including an RBI-double to Happ, and allowed two earned runs. Of his 81 pitches, 51 were strikes and 16 were clocked at 100 mph or faster.
“There’s a great buzz around the community right now with the excitement of what Mason has accomplished,” said Tony Fisher, Miller’s former high school coach.
“Words can’t really describe the joy you get from watching someone you know chase down their dream.”
As a junior in high school, Miller started to exhibit potential once he focused on his pitching. He helped the Black Hawks to a section banner and was the ace of the 2016 club.
Current BP manager Patrick Zehnder took note of Miller when he was a volunteer JV assistant and in his first season on the Black Hawk coaching staff.
“I remember seeing him interact with the other players and you could tell he was well-liked and treated people with respect regardless of their talent,” Zehnder said. “He was very tall and skinny, but had some potential in his arm if he could put some weight on.”
When Miller enrolled that fall at Waynesburg, however, he did indeed have trouble physically and his fantasy quickly became a nightmare.
In two seasons, his ERAs swelled to seven and he struggled with control both in his command of pitches, walking many, and with his weight. The 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher tipped the scales at 155.
During the summer heading into his junior year, Miller was set to intern in the financial department for Allegheny Health Network. After a routine drug test, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Because his blood sugar levels hovered around 700 mg/dL (the normal range is between 80-120), he was hospitalized.
Previously known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, the disease is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or none of the hormone needed to allow sugar — or glucose — to enter cells to produce energy.
While there is not cure for diabetes, an insulin pump along with a few additional changes to his diet and lifestyle healed Miller’s pitching stats and restored his professional prospects.
“(Diabetes) was a blessing in disguise,” Miller had said. “I’m grateful it happened because that was when everything clicked.”
Zehnder agreed. He said Miller’s amazing story from there is history.
“Mason is a man of great character and integrity, and used that to continue pushing and working even when his college career wasn’t going as well as he hoped,” Zehnder added. “Once he got the Diabetes diagnosis and was able to put on good weight, he finally started seeing the results.”
In the spring of 2019, his junior season at Waynesburg, Miller compiled an 8-2 record in 11 starts. He owned a 1.86 ERA, which is a single-season school record. Miller also struck out 97 batters in 67 2/3 innings.
He led the President’s Athletic Conference in ERA, strikeouts, strikeouts looking, opponent batting average, complete games and shutouts.
He was named PAC Pitcher of the Week twice, a first-team All-PAC performer and gathered All-Region awards from both D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Before it was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic, his 2020 season was off to a similar start. In two outings, Miller went 2-0 over two complete games, 14 innings, with a 2.57 ERA, 24 strikeouts and a .160 opponent batting average. He was named PAC Pitcher of the Week during the first week of the season.
While Miller graduated from Waynesburg with a degree in finance and a 3.9 GPA, the NCAA and NAIA granted student-athletes an extra year of eligibility. So Miller enrolled at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina.
Miller succeeded at Gardner-Webb. He posted an 8-1 record that spring. He forged a 3.30 ERA and maintained a 1.11 WHIP. He fanned 121 batters in 92 2/3 inning. In fifteen trips to the mound, Miller fanned 10 or more batters on seven occasions, including a season-high 13 in a 6-2 win at Campbell.
Miller led the Big South Conference and ranked 21st in the nation with 121 strikeouts, the second most in a single season by a Gardner-Webb pitcher. His 11.75 strikeouts per nine innings ratio also ranks second for a single season in program history and his .210 opponent batting average tops the all-time GWU listing.
Miller was a 2021 Big South All-Conference First Team selection. He was named to the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings Division I Atlantic All-Region Second Team.
At a MLB draft combine, Miller impressed the Oakland Athletics. During the amateur draft on July 12, 2021, they selected him in the third round. He was the 97th pick overall.
”Mason has had quite the journey,” said Fisher. “He has thrived in each step as the competition continued to increase. More importantly, he has thrived in the face of adversity along his journey. That serves as a true inspiration to so many youth and high school players in Bethel Park.”
Zehnder agreed. He said that Miller could have given up on baseball but he just kept his head down and continued to work.
”It is inspiring to see a guy like that keep pushing through difficulties and come out like this on the other side. Even if he didn’t make it to the big leagues, he was already a success because of what he has overcome,” he said.
Miller made his MLB move after an impressive showing during spring training. He is coming off being named the Pacific Coast League’s Pitcher of the Week (April 10-16).
In his third start for the Las Vegas Aviators, a 14-4 win against the Salt Lake Bees, he hurled five no-hit frames, issued no walks and fanned a career-high 11 batters on 64 pitches. In striking out the side in the first and third innings, many of his pitches were clocked at 100+ miles per hour.
Miller held a 2.83 ERA with 53 strikeouts and six walks in 28 2/3 innings over his Minor League career. During this season, he had 19 strikeouts and no walks in 8 2/3 innings.
Fisher predicts Miller will bring his winning ways to the A’s staff, which has struggled with a Major League-worst 9.39 ERA and is tied for third-most walks (40). “Mason has always been a great teammate,” he said. “He’s also a humble person.”
Miller, who is primarily a three-pitch pitcher (four-seam fastball, cut-fastball, slider) while developing a change-up, is the 24-year-old son of Kirstin and Matthew Miller. He and his former teammate, Justin Meis, who is pitching in Altoona for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor-league organization, are inspirations for a new generation of players in Bethel Park.
“We talk about Mason and Justin a lot at practices,” said Zehnder. “It is unbelievable to have a former Hawk in the big leagues and we all are excited about that.”
Zehnder and the Black Hawks were excited to catch some of the A’s action after they completed a two-game series with Peters Township. They also hope to see Miller in action when he comes to Pittsburgh in June. The A’s play a series with the Pirates at PNC Park from June 5-7.