Padres' Mason Miller's masterclass vs. Cubs proves he's MLB's best pitcher right now

Mason Miller has been as close to a superhero as a pitcher has ever gotten. He ended the regular season with NL Reliever of the Month honors after racking up 12.1 scoreless frames with 26 strikeouts, yet he somehow got better just two games into the postseason.

As part of a 3-0 victory on Wednesday in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card round on the road against the Chicago Cubs, Mason Miller came on in relief for the seventh inning. Not only did Miller record a hold. Not only did he post another scoreless outing. Mason Miller made history.

Since Major League Baseball has tracked pitches (2008), we have never seen a pitch as fast in the postseason as Miller's on Wednesday. Painting a 104.5 MPH fastball on the low and outside corner for the second out of the seventh inning, Miller's pitch became the fastest in postseason history.

Padres' Mason Miller throws fastest pitch ever in MLB postseason

Though this strikeout was impressive, Miller faced five batters in Game 2, and he struck out all of them. Through two postseason games this year, Miller has faced eight batters. All of them went down on strikes. Mind you, these are the first games he has ever pitched in the playoffs in his young career.

Miller posted a 0.77 ERA in 23.1 innings as a Padre in the regular season, which seemed impossible to outdo. Somehow, the 27-year-old has been even better in the playoffs. It begs the question: Is Mason Miller the best pitcher in the game right now? Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet are respectable candidates, but if we are going to consider relievers in this debate, it is hard to overlook what Miller has done over the last month-and-a-half. Let's give a reliever his flowers. He deserves it.

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