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 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.