Bethel Park’s Miller evolving into top MLB pitching prospect
Gardner-Webb has fielded a successful mid-major college baseball team over the past five years. The Runnin’ Bulldogs finished in the top half of the Big South Conference four times since 2016, but the program isn’t exactly a pipeline for high-level professional talent. Over that five-year span, GardnerWebb only produced five MLB draft picks. One made it to the majors (Jeremy Walker, Atlanta Braves), while the other four are somewhere out in the abyss of the minor leagues.
Then, there’s tiny Waynesburg University. It’s safe to say that a Division III program competing against the likes of Saint Vincent, Washington & Jefferson, Grove City and Geneva in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference certainly isn’t a stepping stone to Major League Baseball either. Only eight D-3 players made it onto MLB opening-day rosters in 2020.
Consider Mason Miller an anomaly.
The Bethel Park native and Waynesburg grad is now the ace of this season’s Gardner- Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs rotation, and has MLB scouts runnin’ to the small suburban town of Boiling Springs, N.C. like it’s a baseball hotbed. Baseball America slotted Miller as the Big South’s No. 2 2021 draft prospect before the season, but with a 97 mph fastball and off-speed pitches in the mid-to-upper 80s, the 6foot-5 right-hander is climbing up draft boards at an exceedingly high rate.
“Every day Mason would throw in the fall was like scout day,” recalled Gardner-Webb senior Patrick Ferguson, a Central Catholic grad who, alongside Miller, is one of three Pittsburgharea players on the roster. “There were scouts rolling in before the scrimmage would start, just sitting there with their radar guns. It was honestly a sight to see.”
After a dominant career at Waynesburg, Miller received an extra season of eligibility due to COVID-19 and transferred to GardnerWebb in August 2020 — selecting GWU coach Jim Chester’s program over Arkansas and Coastal Carolina. Chester, a Pittsburgh native himself, was a fouryear college baseball player at Thiel College, where he frequently faced Waynesburg athletic director Adam Jack, one of Waynesburg’s best former baseball players of all time. Following Miller’s 8-2, 1.86 ERA season in 2019, Jack reached out to Chester with a tip about a strong-armed, high character kid who he undoubtedly believed could make the jump to Division I. Chester did his homework on Miller, talking to other coaches across the PAC who all expressed similar sentiments. The hype was real.
“I’m kind of going off a small sample size right now, but he’s the best pitcher I’ve ever coached — 100%,” said Chester, who compiled a combined 348-210 record at Mercyhut Northeast, Penn State Greater-Allegheny, Lock Haven and Barton College prior to taking the Gardner-Webb job in 2019. “I think there’s a bright future for this young man. This is only the tip of the iceberg in regards to his potential. Obviously, I”m not the only one who thinks that. There are about 30 MLB teams who think the same thing.”
In five games this season, Miller is 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 35 strikeouts over 32 innings pitched, lasting at least six innings in every start. He gave up just three hits and one earned run in a 5-1 loss to Georgia on Feb. 27, and followed it with a season-high 13 strikeout performance over seven innings of a 6-2 win against Campbell. The Runnin’ Bulldogs (7-9, 6-4) are 3-2 in games he has pitched.
“It’s a major step up for me from the level I was playing at,” said Miller. “So being on the same field as a bunch of other guys with a lot of talent is pretty special. It’s pretty surreal for me. It’s not a position I thought I would’ve been in a year ago.”
Or four years ago. In April 2018, Miller was unexpectedly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, which was discovered through a drug test for an internship with the finance department of Jefferson Hospital. His urine sample was so diluted that it required further tests that revealed his blood sugar levels were off the charts. A normal blood sugar level for a healthy person is between 80-120 mg/dL.
Miller’s levels hovered at around 700 mg/dL.
“I was immediately sent to the emergency room,” he said. “It was a total shock. I didn’t go in thinking I’d end up in the ER by the end of the day, but it was nice to finally know what was finally going on with my body.”
At the time of his diagnosis, Miller weighed in at a mere 155 pounds — entirely too light for his 6-5 frame — after puzzlingly losing 20 pounds over the previous year despite maintaining inseason and offseason workout routines. He knew something was up with his body and had planned to get bloodwork in the near future, but didn’t realize the extent and seriousness of his condition. However, there was also a silver lining to finally figuring out what was wrong.
“Athletically, that’s when everything started to click for me,” said Miller. “I made gains physically, and it transitioned onto the mound. I made a big jump velocitywise. [Diabetes] was an adjustment for some of the things I need to do day-to-day to take care of myself, but athletically, it gave me the boost I needed to propel me to this point.”
Since that day, Miller has gained 65 pounds and now boasts a sturdy 225 frame. He has gained 25 pounds since transferring to GardnerWebb, taking full advantage of access to a Division I workout facility and strength training program for the first time. He maintains a high-protein, lowcarb diet to manage his insulin levels and is extremely cognizant of what he puts into his body.
“From the facilities to our strength coach, it’s really helped speed up his progression in that regard,” said Chester. “He was really good when he got in here in August. There’s no doubt about it. But now he walks through the center field gate and looks like a big-leaguer. I’ve been around a little bit with some of that, I’ve had draft picks before. With this kid, it’s there. He carries himself like a pro. He looks the part, and he’s a big piece of it.”
From an on-the-mound standpoint, spending the fall throwing against GardnerWebb’s experienced, highlevel transfer-ridden lineup was key to his seamless transition to Division I college baseball. As was an adjusted pitching approach. Unlike at Waynesburg, Miller can’t solely dominate hitters with his fastball anymore. He needs to be strategic now, picking and choosing his placements to master the mental side of the strikeout.
“My stuff has always been good,” he said. “It’s just about sequencing it more effectively, playing one pitch off the next and setting up hitters more. Not necessarily pitching for a swing and miss sometimes, but instead pitching for contact. That’s been one of the biggest things for me. Just being more considerate in what I’m trying to do with each pitch.”
But don’t get it twisted — Miller still relies on a nasty fastball when the time is right. Consider it moreso like an expanded repertoire.
“The toughest part is he’s able to command more than just his fastball,” said Ferguson. “Guys who throw at the velocity he does, sometimes they’re sporadic. But he throws a good changeup and a slider and has the ability to throw them for strikes at pretty much any count. You don’t know what you’re going to get from him. It’s always a battle with a guy like that.
“He has all the intangibles to be a professional pitcher for a long time. You don’t see too many guys who are like him at the college level. Having him on the rubber every Friday for us is just huge. It’s really paid dividends for Gardner- Webb as a program.”
Miller’s future remains uncertain. Some 2021 MLB draft projections have him going somewhere in the top three rounds, but a lot can change between now and July. He said his sole focus is on finishing out his final season of college ball and then letting the chips fall where they may.
But if one thing’s for certain, Mason Miller is officially on the map.
“The conversations about [Miller] with MLB scouts have been lengthy,” said Chester. “They’ve been aggressive, and they’ve been continuous. I’m excited to see what happens with him moving forward.”