PEORIA, Ariz. — Jason Adam finished his first live batting practice of the spring, having confirmed for himself and everyone who watched that he is ahead of schedule in many ways.

But there was the matter of his velocity.

“The velo wasn’t high enough,” he said after making some good hitters take bad swings. “There is definitely room for upside there. … I call my agent every January, I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever gonna throw over 90 again.’ And then it comes.”

It takes a while for most pitchers to build up. Adam has a fastball that runs about 95 mph during the season. He was sitting between 90 and 92 mph on Friday.

“Some guys can do it,” he said of firing in February. “Mason obviously can do it.”

Yes, Mason Miller can. Like few others. Almost certainly like no other pitcher in Padres history.

Miller, who is in his first spring training with the Padres in advance of his first full season with the team and his first turn as its closer, is about more than bringing the heat. Still, his rare ability to bring that heat is what most everyone talks about.

A few hours after Adam spoke, Miller entered the Padres’ exhibition opener and hit 100 mph with nine of his 11 fastballs, topped 101 four times and reached 101.7 on his final pitch, a called third strike that ended his one inning of work.

It wasn’t 104.5 in the Wild Card Series, a la what he did in October to finish off a strikeout of Carson Kelly, the fastest recorded pitch in MLB postseason history and also so perfectly placed in the bottom outer corner of the strike zone.

2025 PitchingNinja Award for Fastball of the Year. 🏆

Winner: Mason Miller.
104.5 mph Dot. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/iFj81Xufxu

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 6, 2025

But Friday was his first outing of spring.

“It’s very hard to pitch in a game and not be giving it 100%,” Miller said. “I think if you’re going about your offseason right, your first outing should feel great. … I mean, we’re competing. You get a guy in the box in a different uniform, what choice do you have? It’s ‘go’ time.”

Miller, who on March 2 will join Team USA in preparation for the World Baseball Classic, did start his offseason throwing program two weeks earlier than usual and pitched to hitters before arriving in spring training.

But what he did Friday was not uncommon for him. In 2024, he hit 104 mph in his first spring game while pitching for the A’s.

After being acquired at the trade deadline last July, Miller threw the fastest pitch of his career and in Padres history — 104.5 mph on Aug. 5. Just including regular season, he has thrown the 12 fastest pitches and 28 of the 30 fastest pitches in franchise history — or at least since such tracking began in 2008, which makes it safe to assume no one has thrown faster. Miller, Andres Muñoz and Andrew Cashner are the only Padres known to have thrown at least 102 mph.

It is a testament to the fascination with velocity that, in an era when 130 pitchers threw at least 100 pitches 100 mph or harder last season, Miller’s spring training pitch went viral.

Mason Miller.
102 mph.
First game of Spring Training. 😳 pic.twitter.com/TM891QvYZQ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 20, 2026

Such a focus is also a bit misleading when talking about the 27-year-old who is under team control through 2029.

Miller’s fastball is a weapon, without a doubt, but it is not his best pitch.

That would be the slider he throws that seems to disappear as it breaks down and away from right-handed batters at somewhere around 88 mph.

Mason Miller, 87mph Slider and 102mph Painted Fastball, Individual Pitches + Overlay

Not fair. 🥴 pic.twitter.com/nnNRer6IaH

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 31, 2025

While starting in the minor leagues and during his first season in the major leagues in 2023, Miller featured a cutter fairly prominently and also threw a changeup.

The latter, he still (sort of) thinks he can make a real part of his repertoire.

Miller threw three changeups Friday, all of them between 94 and 95 mph. He threw it that much twice last season and has not thrown it more than twice in a game since 2023.

The usage Friday should not be taken as an indicator of things to come.

“Every year around this time, I say I am a three-pitch pitcher and I have a changeup,” Miller said. “This year, same thing. We’ll see how long it lasts. … It’s a little harder when there’s a game on the line. But there’s spots for it. Just pick your spots.”

Pitching coach Ruben Niebla offered something between a smile and a grimace when Miller’s changeup was broached.

“It’s a really good pitch,” Niebla said. “But he’s got two plus pitches already. … He always works on it in the offseason, and then opening day rolls around and it kind of gets tucked in the back pocket. So we’ll see. We’ll see where we go with it.”

So maybe we’ll see it more?

Another smile.

“Mason Miller went and did this project on his own,” Niebla replied. “Let’s just put it that way.”

Miller is scheduled to make his second appearance of the spring on Monday. He will likely pitch once more for the Padres before he joins Team USA for its pre-WBC camp in Scottsdale. The U.S. plays its first game March 6 against Brazil in Houston.

There is no telling how hard he will throw with the adrenaline pumping that early.