Meet Detroit's Latest Pitching Phenomenon
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by Nejoshi
Largely overshadowed by an astonishing set of starters, full of promising youth and grisly veteran experience, it’s beginning to get harder and harder to ignore what Detroit Tigers rookie Andrew Miller is doing. Miller may only be the #5 starter on the loaded Tigers rotation, but he is showing the pitching moxie of an ace.
The sixth pick in the 2006 Draft has quickly become a regular on the Tigers rotation, and is opening eyes with his impressive performance as a tender 22-year old. His latest start, a 3-2 pitching duel win over Johan Santana, was his most impressive and suggests that an already loaded rotation in Detroit may only be getting better.
The left-hander showed tremendous poise given the circumstances and looked dominant going five innings, while allowing a single run and striking five. The outing may have been short, but it set the tone for Detroit’s second consecutive win over the Twins ace. Miller made several outstanding defensive plays, and continually was able to work his way out of jams as Minnesota continued to leave runners on base.
In the midst of a tense division race with the Cleveland Indians, each and every start is important. With all five spots on the rotation secure, the Tigers have clearly got the edge over Cleveland on the pitching end. Given the way their top-ranked offense has heated up since its cold start, it’s looking more and more certain that Detroit will do what they were unable to do last season, and actually win the AL Central.
Detroit has always had four great starters, but filling that fifth spot has always been somewhat of a headache. Last year it was Zach Miner, but he like Mike Maroth wasn’t cutting it, and Miller has inherited his spot. Since being rewarded with the #5 slot in the rotation, he has posted a 5-3 mark with an impressive 3.18 ERA.
Statistics aside, it’s easy to forget about Miller given the tremendous amount of talent that is surrounding him on the Tiger rotation. Justin Verlander has been brilliant ever since he burst on the scene, winning the Rookie of the Year – something Miller isn’t likely to do even with his superb season – and on top of that throwing the franchise’s first no-hitter since 1984.
Nate Robertson and Jeremy Bonderman, although not the headline makers that Verlander has been, are still as good a #2 and 3 starters as any across the league, combining to go 16-7 so far this year. And finally, there’s Kenny Rogers, old enough to be Miller’s father, but still pitching at a great level. Rogers has shown in his limited action so far in 2007 that last year’s masterful postseason performance wasn’t a fluke.
Those four have been getting plenty of ink during Detroit’s resurrection from the bottom of the standings in the last two years, but it’s time to start putting Miller in that company. He is only beginning to harness his filthy repertoire of pitches, and with the aid of pitching coach
Blessed with a mid-90’s fastball and a towering presence at 6’6”, Miller was a can’t miss prospect during his days at North Carolina. Widely regarded as the best pitcher in the draft, Miller is quickly showing that he is the best player in the draft period. He is the first of the ’06 draft class to make it to the bigs, and doesn’t look to be leaving anytime soon.
