The Padres arrived home facing the edge of the National League Division Series, down two games to none to Milwaukee, with Mason Miller’s ninth inning in Game 2 still hanging over the club.
Miller’s blown save Sunday has prompted close scrutiny of whether the Padres closer was revealing his pitches. The right-hander has reviewed video, still photographs and additional material from the game, but said Monday at Petco Park that his own command, not a possible tell, was the bigger issue.
“I don’t really know what to make of it,” Miller said. “There was only one pitch where it might have mattered.”
That pitch came against Jackson Chourio. With the count 1-2, Chourio laid off a slider beneath the strike zone with unusual confidence, in Miller’s view. Miller said the take was the moment that made him consider whether Milwaukee might have had some indication of what was coming.
“That just seemed like a really confident take,” Miller said.
A pitch later, Chourio drove a 101.3 mph fastball into center field for a walk-off, two-run single.
Walks, not signals, bothered Miller most
The ninth began with a runner already at second, and Miller issued three walks, including free passes to Sal Frelick and Gary Sánchez. Images circulated online suggesting that Miller’s throwing hand sat farther from his glove when he was preparing to throw a fastball than when he was set for a slider. Video also showed Frelick touching his neck while Chourio was at the plate.
Miller did not dismiss the possibility that an adjustment could be needed, but he did not believe a pitch tip explained the inning’s decisive failures. The walks, he said, came on pitches that were simply not competitive enough to force a decision.
Milwaukee is known for disciplined at-bats, and Miller said he would have expected the Brewers to take those pitches regardless of whether they had any advance clue.
“If you execute pitches, you’re still going to get guys out,” Miller said.
He also questioned whether the screenshots told a complete story, saying still images can capture different moments within a pitcher’s setup and exaggerate an apparent difference. Miller noted that he has worked with runners on base throughout the season and believes a meaningful giveaway would likely have been noticed before Sunday.
Padres reviewing the delivery
Manager Craig Stammen said the club’s staff continually studies both its own pitchers and opposing pitchers for tendencies. He would not say whether the Padres had found anything specific in Miller’s delivery, but made clear the team would address an issue if one is identified.
Stammen cautioned against treating internet analysis as conclusive and said the Padres were comfortable with their internal review process. Asked directly if Miller had been tipping, Stammen again declined to provide a firm answer, saying the club had people monitoring the situation and was not overly concerned.
Miller said he was not planning any immediate mechanical change as of Monday afternoon. If the evidence establishes that he was giving away pitches, he said he would respond, though he acknowledged that changing too much in the middle of a postseason series carries its own risk.
“Once you’re aware of it, for sure,” Miller said. “But it kind of seems like a bad time to try to change everything, too.”
Two innings remain part of the conversation
Stammen offered another explanation for Miller’s uneven finish: workload. The Padres’ bullpen had been taxed in Game 1, and Adrian Morejon was unavailable for Game 2 after throwing 31 pitches. That left San Diego needing Miller to get six outs.
Miller handled the eighth inning in his usual overpowering fashion, then became far less precise in the ninth. Stammen said the Padres have seen that pattern at times when Miller works beyond one inning, even though the club was comfortable with the decision in the moment.
For most of the season, San Diego has tried to reserve Miller primarily for the ninth. Stammen did not commit to a rigid plan for the rest of the series, but indicated that the club may need to weigh multi-inning usage more carefully as the postseason moves forward.
Miller, for his part, did not believe the extra inning was a conscious factor on Sunday, pointing to the intensity of a playoff appearance. Still, he left room for the possibility that it played some role.
“Your adrenaline is so high, so I don’t think it was a conscious part of things,” Miller said. “I didn’t throw strikes. Whether it was for that reason or not? I don’t know.”
The Padres will try to turn the series around in Game 3 on Tuesday night at Petco Park. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. CT and 6:30 p.m. PT, with FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One carrying the game.
San Diego would gladly take another late lead into the hands of Miller. This time, the closer and the club will know every set of eyes in the ballpark will be watching the smallest details before he ever releases a pitch.
