You could feel the rhythm as you watched Atlanta Braves pitcher Shelby Miller cast his spell against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. Miller worked his magic from the mound in the Braves' 6-0 win -- getting quick results against batter after batter as he neared a possible personal first: a no-hitter.

He threw just 73 pitches though seven innings, 80 pitches through eight, then needed just two pitches to put away Adeiny Hechavarria in the ninth. Jhonathan Solano reached a full count before flying out to center field. One out to go ... but then a first-pitch base hit by Justin Bour up the middle turned something beautiful, and possibly historic, into just another great outing. Perhaps not that much less of a beautiful thing if you're a Braves fan, but when a guy's bid to make history becomes just a great day at the office, you can't help but feel for him.

Miller's fastball was crackling in the mid-90s range from start to finish. His single-inning high before the ninth and the hit was the 13 pitches thrown in the second inning, when he walked Marcell Ozuna. It was the only other time he allowed a man on base before Bour's hit, but the baserunner was erased when Miller induced a double play. It's fun to witness a guy pitch with that kind of control, and you just get the sense watching that this is his day. But that's also a reflection of what Miller is in the process of becoming.

While that Bour hit might have erased Miller's bid for one kind of history, it can't erase another kind that Miller is making as he comes into his own. Since a bittersweet rookie season in 2013 that saw Miller break through for 15 wins -- only to wind up an unused cipher on the postseason roster -- Miller put up a disappointing 2014 campaign. Last season, his strikeout rate dropped from 23.4 percent to 16.6 percent, while his walk rate worsened. His FIP went up from 3.67 to 4.54.

But just looking at the data, you forget that Miller is only 24 years old. You can forgive the inconsistency a bit when you recognize he's still sorting things out. Between 2013 and 2014, he moved away from using his changeup as a key off-speed pitch, while building greater faith in his curve as a change of pace against lefties. This year, coming over to the Braves, the curve has initially been even more of a show-me pitch as Miller makes his living with fastball command. He is showing better touch with a cutter and sinker to complement that mid-90s heat that should never have been overlooked. On some level he's still in the process of becoming something special, far from a known quantity or a pitcher possessing finished quality.

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The results have been initially spectacular. Miller has thrown complete-game shutouts in two of his last three games, and before you even start worrying about his workload, you shouldn't. The first shutout, against the Phillies, took just 99 pitches to complete, and Sunday's against the Marlins took just 94 pitches to put away. He's gone past 100 pitches just once this year. He's generating more ground-ball outs for the first time in his young career now that he has that sinker in the mix, and his strikeout rate is back up over 20 percent.

Given the change in his mix and the success that he's having with it, he's not just the guy the Braves got in the Jason Heyward deal -- he's something more. Not every great pitcher started off great, after all; while everybody loves those comets that blaze their way into the game, for guys like Matt Harvey or Doc Gooden, sometimes it takes time, as it did for Justin Verlander and John Smoltz. Maybe Miller's failure to provide instant and overwhelming gratification as a top-shelf prospect will be what helps him ultimately become everything you hope for: great and good and durable, and as magical over time as he just was in Miami.

With three more years under club control, the Braves will have plenty of time to see what Miller turns into before offering major money. But days like this, punctuated by a great start like this, can't help but make you think that Miller's about to become the top gun the Braves have been looking for since their dynasty rotation crumbled. And for those of you who want to see those days return to Atlanta, that's something Miller might be able to give to you, given time.

The other fun thing to think about from this game was the other half of this battery, much-loathed and well-traveled A.J. Pierzynski. With the White Sox, Pierzysnski caught Mark Buehrle's 2007 no-hitter and Philip Humber's perfect game in 2012. To see this added to his collection of backstop exploits would have been fun, because there isn't a lot of love for Pierzynski's performance via pitch framing metrics, yet his continued presence in the majors is a reminder that a little bit of offense and a whole lot of durability also have value in an industry in which not everyone is going to be a Molina to be named later.

Christina Kahrl writes about MLB for ESPN. You can follow her on Twitter.