Mason Miller vs stupid Orioles hitters = immaculate inning

[fabiani12333]

Padres (former A's) reliever Mason Miller achieved the so-called immaculate inning during the 8th inning of today's game against the Orioles: https://www.mlb.com/news/mason-mille...gainst-orioles

For those who don't know, an immaculate inning is when a pitcher strikes out the side on 9 pitches. It's a cool achievement for a reliever, who only get used in short bursts and don't have too many opportunities to achieve noteworthy accomplishments.

But it was how Miller accomplished the feat that should have fans questioning the intelligence of the Orioles hitters (and/or the hitting coach? Scouts? Analytics people?).

Miller, who is known for consistently throwing his four-seam fastball in the triple digits, threw 9-straight sliders. This is how the at-bats went:

Batter #1: Jeremiah Jackson:
Pitch 1: slider -- looked high -- called strike
Pitch 2: slider -- below the zone -- swung-and-miss
Pitch 3: slider -- below and outside the zone -- swung-and-miss

Batter #2: Ryan Mountcastle:
Pitch 1: slider -- below the zone -- swung-and-miss
Pitch 2: slider -- nowhere close to the zone -- called on check swing
Pitch 3: slider -- below the zone -- swung-and-miss

Batt #3: Emmanuel Rivera
Pitch 1: slider -- below the zone -- swung-and-miss
Pitch 2: slider -- away -- swung-and-miss
It is here where the broadcaster finally mentions, "It's just slider after slider."
Pitch 3: slider -- middle of the zone -- swung-and-miss

Clearly, the Orioles hitters were guessing fastball the whole time. And it's not that bad of an idea, as Miller has gotten close to average results with it this season: .330 wOBA, .435 SLG, 5 HR on 424 pitches (54% of his pitches). On the flip side, he's been completely dominant with his slider: .146 wOBA, .225 SLG, 0 HR on 344 pitches (44% of his pitches, which is a very high percentage).

But at some point -- perhaps during the middle of the second at-bat -- the idiot Orioles hitters should have realized that Miller and his catcher knew they were sitting on fastball and to make an adjustment.

But nope -- the Orioles kept guessing fastball even after the broadcaster was forced to mention the obvious. As Robert Downey Jr said in Tropic Thunder: "You never go full r*tard."

[teosdesserts]

7-5, completed the sweep.

[BoSoxFan1999]

I'll take a 3-game sweep if it means having to give up an immaculate inning. Lol

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by BoSoxFan1999

I'll take a 3-game sweep if it means having to give up an immaculate inning. Lol

Why did they take him out after that inning? They wanted to preserve it for him or just a bad matchup the following inning?

[johnlocke36]

Some fun stats. Of the 100+ immaculate innings only like 10-11 have done it without a foul ball. A total of 0 have done previously with 8 swing and misses (although like it was pointed out in the pitcher thread no idea if this was tracked 1920 etc but guessing never happened)

And while I have no data to back this up I’m fairly certain it’s first one without throwing a fastball.

So for all purposes, you probably witnesses the greatest inning ever thrown in baseball history and it ws done without a guy throwing a single 80 grade fastball or 80 grade change up that he also has in his bag. But everyone on here loves to #@#@#@#@ on miller becuaaw era slightly higher then it should be because of some unlucky variance

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by johnlocke36

Some fun stats. Of the 100+ immaculate innings only like 10-11 have done it without a foul ball. A total of 0 have done previously with 8 swing and misses (although like it was pointed out in the pitcher thread no idea if this was tracked 1920 etc but guessing never happened)

And while I have no data to back this up I’m fairly certain it’s first one without throwing a fastball.

So for all purposes, you probably witnesses the greatest inning ever thrown in baseball history and it ws done without a guy throwing a single 80 grade fastball or 80 grade change up that he also has in his bag. But everyone on here loves to #@#@#@#@ on miller becuaaw era slightly higher then it should be because of some unlucky variance

That is very remarkable. Sarah Langs also posted that it was the third time in the pitch-tracking era that a pitcher did it with only one type of pitch.

[Archangel1775]

So they took him out because he's limited in what he can do?

[green4407]

Oh John you never fail to come through!

Jeremiah Jackson, Ryan mountcastle, Emmanuel Rivera.

Getting those 3 guys out = best inning ever

[towerymt]

https://www.topps.com/products/mason...C2%AE-card-653

INVEST!

[jduds]

Originally Posted by towerymt

https://www.topps.com/products/mason...C2%AE-card-653

INVEST!

I ordered one. I should've just waited and bought a parallel for $10 on eBay in a couple of months, but Topps Now is the closest I get to opening wax these days.