Bobby Miller began his 2024 campaign by setting a career high with 11 strikeouts in a dominant outing against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Miller followed that up by striking out the side in the first inning of his start at Wrigley Field, but he then gave up five runs and was chased before managing to get through the second on his 25th birthday. Miller expressed frustration with his performance and looked to moving past it and getting back on track.
That opportunity came Wednesday afternoon with Miller on the mound at Target Field and the Los Angeles Dodgers in position to complete a series sweep of the Minnesota Twins.
However, managed to pitch just four innings due to laboring in the start. Following the Dodgers’ loss, Miller looked to find a silver lining with the performance as he held the Twins to just two runs, via SportsNet LA:
“There were times when I was good with runners on base. Not super happy with the outing, but with only two runs, given the amount of baserunners I had and amount of times I fell behind in the count, that gives me more confidence. I could’ve easily gave in and made it a four- or five-run game. Just don’t give in and get out of those with two runs.”
Miller elaborated on adjustments in order to feel more comfortable pitching out of the stretch compared to when he faced the Cubs:
“Just mainly focus on not giving in. When it comes down to it with everything, it’s just execution. Especially the changeup. Execution on it wasn’t great. I threw one good one that got hit, but almost the same thing as last time. Just pulling the changeup down, but it was better today.”
To Miller’s point, half of the Twins’ damage came on Edouard Julien’s leadoff home run that tied the game in the bottom of the first inning.
Carlos Correa followed with a base hit but Miller then induced a double play and struck out Byron Buxton to end the inning.
In the second, back-to-back walks put two on with nobody out before Miller retired the next three batters faced to keep the game tied. He wasn’t quite as fortunate in the third inning as three of the first four batters faced singled, resulting in Minnesota taking a 2-1 lead.
But Miller stranded two runners on base and in the fourth inning wiped away a one-out walk by inducing another double play.
Miller took a no-decision and overall this season is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in three starts.
Bobby Miller trying to take step forward
After impressing during stretches as a rookie in 2023, Miller went into this year wanting to eliminate long innings that cause his pitch count to spike and allows opponents to score runs in bunches.
That has taken place thus far, with the exception of the second inning against the Cubs.
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