In whatll be another rough season for the As, the front office is looking for young players to establish themselves as key long-term pieces. In the first few weeks, no one has shown more promise in that regard than . Miller was a third-round pick in 2021. His Enos Slaughter Jersey stuff had taken a major step forward during his final collegiate season. As wrote last week, Miller had a hard time keeping on weight and maintaining his strength until he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2018. While the primary concern was in allowing Miller to navigate a serious health condition, learning how to manage the i sue permitted the 65 righty to rapidly bulk up. His velocity spiked into the mid-upper 90s, leading the As to roll the dice on his upside. Injuries e sentially robbed Miller of traditional minor league development. He lost almost all of the 2022 season to shoulder i sues. He had pitched all of 28 2/3 profe sional innings before the As called him up last April. He had an impre sive four-start debut before reporting forearm sorene s. Testing revealed a mild UCL sprain and the As shut him down for a few months. Miller returned in September, working 2-3 inning stints to finish the year. He closed his rookie campaign with a 3.78 ERA in 33 1/3 innings. Oakland GM David Forst announced early in the offseason that Miller would work out of the bullpen in 2024. Forst suggested it wasnt a permanent switch. Rather, the As were using the 25-year-old in shorter stints in an effort to keep him healthy before a move back to the rotation in 2025. While they certainly had high hopes that his power arsenal would translate, Miller has surpa sed even the loftiest expectations in the first few weeks. Including tonights four-out save in the Bronx, Miller is up to 11 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He has succe sfully locked down all six of his save chances. After allowing two runs in his season debut against the Guardians, he has rattled off eight straight scorele s outings. Four of those have been perfect innings in which he has recorded multiple strikeouts. Miller has punched out 23 of 45 opposing hitters, the highest strikeout rate in the majors. His already eye-popping stuff has leveled up in short bursts. Millers fastball is sitting in the 100-101 MPH range. Both the heater and his upper-80s slider have been e sentially untouchable. Even in a minuscule sample, it doesnt seem outlandish to call Miller one of the top relievers in MLB. The quality of the arsenal is self-evident. Hes mi sing bats at the levels weve seen from the likes of , and . Given his injury history, one can question whether hell be able to stay healthy all season. Theres no reason to doubt his talent. Miller fell just shy of the cutoff for a full service year in 2023. The As control him for six seasons. Hell qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2025-26 offseason. Thatll allow him to go through the arb proce s four times instead of the standard three, yet Miller could stick with the As through the 29 campaign. Opposing teams will probably try to convince Forst to put Miller on the trade block this summer, but its hard to see any realistic way that he gets moved. Even rebuilding clubs rarely trade relievers with the kind of talent that he po se ses when theyre in their pre-arbitration seasons. Thats before considering that the As presumably still intend to give him a chance to compete for a rotation spot next year. If Miller turns in a full season as a top 3-5 reliever in the sport, perhaps theyd consider him too valuable to take out of the bullpen, but theres nothing to suggest their long-term plans have changed at this point. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports. Sem Robberse Jersey