Bryce Miller continues to impress as he sets another MLB record

It seems like every time Bryce Miller takes the mound for the Mariners, he does something amazing. I don't think that's overreaching, either, as he has been setting both Mariners records and MLB records throughout his first three starts in the majors.

I mean, take a look at what he has done so far in his three starts for the Mariners.

May 2nd @ Oakland - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 10 K, 81 pitches
May 7th vs Houston - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 5 K, 85 pitches
May 13th @ Detroit - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 3 K, 82 pitches
Total - 19 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 18 K. 0.47 ERA, 0.42 WHIP, 8.53 K/9

That's insane. That would be an incredible run for any pitcher, at any point in the season. It's not hyperbole to say that it's an all-time stretch from Miller, because it truly is. Check out the list of people, since 1901, who have accomplished a start like that to begin their Major League career.

Bryce MIller

Yup, that's it. That's the list.

This isn't something that happens that often, either. According to Sarah Langs (same with the above, you better follow her cause she does amazing work), only 5 other pitchers have done that. I'm unsure if that's just since 2000, or overall, but it's still incredible.

2021 Blake Snell
2021 Corbin Burnes
2015-16 Jake Arrieta
2015 Clayton Kershaw
2008 Cliff Lee

A big part of this comes from the vertical movement on Miller's fastball. If you want to try and figure it all out, scientifically, go here and start digging. The layman's version is that every fastball drops due to gravity—Miller's drops less than anyone else's, at least as of the morning of 5/15/2023. A high spin rate helps a ball to drop less, and Miller has an insane spin rate on his fastball.

We were almost treated to a battle of the "rising fastballs", with Bryce MIller originally set to take on Spencer Strider. Unfortunately, Atlanta has been dealing with injuries to their rotation, and Strider is now throwing on Wednesday this week instead of Friday. That would've been a baseball fan's ASMR dream. I guess we will have to save it for the World Series.

Bryce Miller has been insane since getting called up. Whenever the sentence "first since at least 1901" comes up, you are truly special. Sure, the Tigers and Athletics aren't world-beaters, but shutting down Houston is always impressive. As long as the rotation doesn't change, he will get the Braves, Athletics, Rangers, and Yankees in his next four starts.

If, for some reason, you haven't seen Miller pitch yet, go watch his highlights. He's turning into must watch TV, and is a big part of the Mariners staying near .500 early on in the 2023 season.