The Los Angeles Dodgers made Bobby Miller their first-round selection and the 29th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, and since then he has done nothing but impress and rise through their farm system.
Coming out of the University of Louisville, Miller was known as a someone with great stuff, including a fastball that could reach the triple digits, but he struggled with command due to funky mechanics.
Since then, the Dodgers have helped Miller refine his mechanics and he now looks like a future top-of-the-rotation starter.
The Dodgers have also educated Miller from the analytical side of pitching and development, which is something he didn’t receive much of in college, he recently said on SportsNet LA:
“To be honest, I wasn’t really educated on a lot of the analytical stuff. Not a lot of analytics in college, nor before that. Now I feel a lot more educated on it. Even coming into the organization, I was a little confused by all the analytics, all the numbers and everything, but I’m getting a good grip of it now.”
While most colleges have been improving their effort to get data to players, some programs are still far behind others. Many of the top high school prospects will no longer consider schools without a strong analytic presence, which makes it an important tool for recruiting.
The reason players are requesting a strong analytic presence is to help them improve and it allows their data to be given to pro scouts. This can benefit many players who may not be the most eye-catching athlete at first glance.
Pitchers can utilize the extra data to improve their pitches by breaking down the spin and finding what grip and throwing style works for them, and Miller is just getting started with that:
“Pretty much anything you want to know, like spin direction, spin axis, spin rate, whether it’s vertical break, horizontal break, release height. All of that they can provide for you in any of your bullpens or game reports. It’s pretty helpful. We’ve also got a good balance of both. Executing pitches, sequencing, everything like that is also obviously really important.”
Some universities, such as Vanderbilt, are powerhouse baseball factories that already teach their players how to interpret data. Walker Buehler, who attended Vanderbilt, is known to constantly tinker with his pitches depending on what the data says, even if he had a good start.
Despite just now beginning to understand analytics, Miller is now the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect and he is ranked in the top 50 of all MLB prospects by both Keith Law and Baseball America.
Miller projected to make MLB debut in 2022
The Dodgers have a long history of impressive pitchers, and the next wave of prospects being developed include Miller, Andre Jackson, Landon Knack, and Ryan Pepiot, among others.
Having already received an opportunity to pitch at Dodger Stadium during the exhibition Freeway Series, there’s an expectation Miller will make his MLB debut at some point during the 2022 season.
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