This Is As Close To Unhittable As A Pitch Gets

Baseball is at heart a guessing game. The batter guesses what sort of pitch the pitcher is going to throw. The pitcher guesses what the batter is guessing and throws something else. The batter guesses what the pitcher is guessing about what the batter is guessing; the pitcher guesses what the batter is guessing the pitcher is guessing, and so on, ad pitchclockium. For the sport to be fundamentally fair, a correct guess needs to be useful. Sure, the pitcher wins the battle two out of three times, on balance, but if the batter is right about what's coming and looks for it, he needs to be able to do something with it. If not, that's barely baseball. That's a public execution.

San Diego Padres setup man Mason Miller, for two days in a row after Wednesday's 3-0 win to even their series with the Cubs, may as well be wearing a black hood and carrying an ax.

What, exactly, was Carson Kelly supposed to do with this—a 104.5 mph four-seamer precision-guided to the farthest, lowest corner of the strike zone? It was the fastest ball recorded in the postseason since they started pitch-tracking in 2008. Kelly had just fouled off the first two pitches inside, the second a 102 mph fastball that he barely got around on. He had to protect the near half of the plate; diving into a pitch could've been suicide. The previous day, Kelly had been looking fastball and chased a slider off the plate before being frozen by another. Miller didn't just paint the corner; he tinted it. The bat never left Kelly's shoulder. Miller said postgame it was the best fastball he's ever thrown.

This is what San Diego was dreaming about when it sent a mighty haul to the A's to snag Miller. The bullpen was already a strength for the Padres, who had sent three relievers to the All-Star Game. Miller only added to it, putting up an 0.77 ERA in 22 appearances for the Pads, and striking out most batters. "Most" is not a generality or exaggeration—of 83 hitters he faced in August and September, he K'd 45.

Winning in the postseason is about shortening games. “You just pass the stick to the next guy, and you feel really good about him coming in, too," Miller said. When Dylan Cease ran into the slightest bit of trouble in the fourth inning of Game 2, they went to all-star setup man Adrian Morejon for 2.1 hitless innings. When they wanted to lock things down, they got four outs from all-star closer Robert Suarez. In between was Miller. Including his inning of work in Game 1, here's what Miller has done in this wild card series:

Strikeout swinging, 102 mph fastball. Strikeout looking, 88 mph slider. Strikeout swinging, 89 mph slider. Strikeout swinging, 102 mph fastball. Strikeout looking, 104 mph fastball. Strikeout looking, 90 mph slider. Strikeout swinging, 103 mph fastball. Strikeout swinging, 89 mph slider. Hit by pitch.

"Every pitch feels like it’s coming out good right now," Miller said. "I feel really good."

No one's invincible. No one's invulnerable. No one can perfectly place their pitches every time. You can score off Mason Miller. Maybe he might hit four guys in a row. It's possible. It's just ... not very likely. Not based on his past results, and not based on his ability to reach 104 on the gun and hit his spots with such exactitude. The Padres have their flaws like any other club, and are just one loss away from winter. But there's no team left alive you'd less like to trail after five.