Bobby Miller has been a breakout star for the Los Angeles Dodgers, filling an important role in their rotation after being rushed to the MLB level as a rookie earlier this season.
Miller’s ability, along with some factors outside his control, earned him the start in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. And if the club goes far into the postseason, he’s likely going to be a big part of the reason why.
While many stars have a nickname that becomes popular in the Dodgers clubhouse and among the fanbase, Miller doesn’t have one, and that goes back to not having one while playing college ball at the University of Louisville.
“No. Honestly, I don’t really have a nickname right now,” Miller recently said. “A lot of people say Big Bob. That’s always been a thing for me growing up. I think David Vassegh came up with the Bobby Ice one, but I don’t know if I’m really here for it.”
Evan Phillips interjected with Big Bob as the one Miller should go with, but that doesn’t seem likely to stick. SportsNet LA analyst Jerry Hairston Jr. also started calling him Bobby Blackout because the rookie mentioned blacking out during one of his starts.
“It kind of was a little bit of a blackout,” Miller recalled. “But you can reflect on it the next day, and I definitely remember everything out there.”
Miller is hoping to eventually find the perfect nickname he can embroider on his glove, but for now it’ll just have to be Bobby Miller that becomes a household name.
“I would like that, but I haven’t had that nickname yet that I would do that,” he said. “So as of right now I just put Bobby Miller on my glove.”
Bobby Miller developed changeup
An electric fastball is generally Miller’s go-to pitch, but he also relies on a slider and multiple offspeed offerings, with the changeup being used the least.
However, that pitch has also been important for the 24-year-old in his development at the Major League level, where hitters generally don’t struggle much to catch up with 100 mph pitches unless they are paired with quality offspeed pitches.
Hitters are also hitting just .133 against Miller’s changeup and it has a hard hit rate of just 28% — both marks are the lowest average against any of his offerings.
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