Being a major league pitcher isn’t easy, especially when you are a young hurler coming off a Rookie of the Year type season who was shelved during the playoffs. Shelby Miller came into season hungry, or at least that was the idea. Miller is struggling right now. He was pummeled by the Rockies and the Dodgers on the road trip and won’t pitch again until Saturday at home against Miami. Miller is 7-7 with a 4.10 earned run average. He has allowed 12 home runs in 98 innings and walked 49 batters in that same span.
When you start to examine Miller’s problems, a few things glare out at you. He is 23 years old and still very young and raw. Fair enough. However, he isn’t getting better or improving this season. He looks like a pitcher who is getting exposed. He is hard to predict. His fastball belongs in the plus variety but guess what, if he can’t spot the thing then his curveball is practically useless. He throws the fastball a lot because he doesn’t trust his breaking pitches. Closers get away with one pitch. Starters get exposed. Let’s look at Miller’s last 10 outings.
May 11-Wins against Pittsburgh. He allows 4 walks, throws 95 pitches and scatters 2 runs on 4 hits in 5.1 innings. More importantly, he won on the road in a place he never had triumphed before.
May 17-Wins against Atlanta at home, strikes out seven, walks 2 and pitched 7 strong innings. Is he turning a corner?
May 23-The Reds beat him up on the road. Miller surrenders 4 runs on 5 hits, walking only 1 in 5 innings.
May 28-The Yankees pound on him even harder, getting to Miller to 7 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings. Mercy?
June 2-Miller pitches 7 innings, but gets reached for 4 runs on 7 hits against the Royals. He losses his third game in a row.
June 7-Facing a high powered Toronto lineup, Miller turns in a masterpiece. Miller scatters 3 hits, strikes out 5 and walks 1 in a complete game win.
June 14-Miller beats the Nats at home, pitching 6.2 innings, and allowing 1 run on 4 hits while walking 4. What is happening?
June 19-The Phillies get to Miller for 4 runs on 7 hits and Miller loses at home. A great streak is stopped by a resurgent Phillies lineup.
June 24-Facing Colorado, Miller lasts only 2.2 innings, walking 5, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and exiting via back tightness. He gets the loss.
June 29-Facing the ace of the National League in Clayton Kershaw, Miller surrenders 6 runs in 5 innings and walks 3 with 4 strikeouts. Ouch.
Add it all up and Miller had two solid starts, 3 straight duds, 2 very good to excellent starts, and three straight bad outings. Good luck Derek Lilliquist with this enigma.
The signs were there in 2013. Miller basically had 1 great pitch and a few other average ones. It all depends on his location. His delivery in 2014 has changed several times. His upper body isn’t in sync with his lower body on every pitch and it all changes from outing to outing. A sore back doesn’t help a pitcher execute any pitches but if that’s the case why is Miller out there trying to be tough. Quarterbacks tough out starts. Major League Baseball starting pitchers need to be practically and remember they are counted on for 30+ starts a season. If Miller isn’t right, he needs to hit the DL and rest up. The results are maddening, ugly and all together unacceptable.
Sure, he’s young. So is Kershaw and several other great young pitchers. Why does young mean fragile and excuse laden in baseball? Miller is a starting pitcher on a MLB team. He’s in his third season, and second full season as a starter. Please excuse me while I play my violin for all the sad Shelby fans. He’s simply sucking it up right now.
Where are the solutions? They won’t come against Giancarlo Stanton and the Marlins on Saturday. Miami is scoring runs, not playing dreadful baseball and will attack that juicy looking Miller fastball. After that, Miller will face Pittsburgh at home and the Dodgers again after the All Star Break. It doesn’t get easier in July, August and September. It gets harder. Just ask Lance Lynn, who has soldiered through the same murky second half waters as Miller will this season. With Joe Kelly coming back and down the road possibly Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia, Miller can’t waste time. The Cards are talking about David Price and right now the man I bump from this rotation is Miller and NOT Carlos Martinez. Miller has to prove to me he can be more consistent and ready to take hold of his spot.
The offense on the Cards is already inconsistent enough to cause a mild heart murmur so fans don’t need the rotation to join the wildly unpredictable circus as well.
After a rough opening start of the season against Pittsburgh, Miller was pretty good for a string of eight starts. Since then, he has been inconsistent, hard to watch at times and generally disappointing. His innings are improving but hitters are also getting better against him by the week. These next two starts before the break will answer a few questions or open up several more.
What is Shelby Miller all about? Every young starting pitcher starts off great and then the rest of the league catches onto their tricks. In an era of video analysis and repeated outings, pitchers have no place to hide in this game. They must find a way to adapt just like the hitter does. Will Miller adapt? How will he do it?
That’s a fascinating question. Good luck finding an answer.
Thanks for staying,
@buffa82
