The Cardinals top prospect has had 3 great starts in a row and hasn’t allowed a walk in his last 5 starts. Let’s take a look after the jump at the numbers and what everyone is saying about him.
Sorry, grammar fail here – I heard that tonight, but Miller was 94-97 on *Saturday* night
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) August 14, 2012
Wow. That is the 8/11 game in which he struck out 10 hitters and walked 0 over 7 innings.
Restored old mechanics too. Better command. “@shahekee: @keithlaw Think the velocity uptick main reason for recent success for Miller?”
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) August 14, 2012
I’m going to try to not read too much into this trying to figure out where Shelby Miller got his “new mechanics”, but the old mechanics are working like a charm. I know that the Cardinals tinkered with Miller’s mechanics a bit in June and issued the “no shake” rule. Derrick Goold has the info in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The Cardinals have given prospect Shelby Miller a no-shake rule — meaning he can’t shake off the catcher’s sign — at Class AAA Memphis to go with a fine-tuning of his mechanics, measures the club hopes will help ease the top prospect’s rough transition to Class AAA.
Here’s Miller’s numbers over the next 5 outings after this “fine-tuning” and “no shake” rule.
|
Date |
Tm |
Opp |
Lev |
Dec |
BF |
IP |
GScr |
ERA |
H |
R |
ER |
HR |
BB |
IBB |
K |
HBP |
2B |
3B |
|
AAA |
L (6) |
25 |
4.7 |
26 |
6.00 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
ND |
20 |
5.0 |
66 |
5.70 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
L (7) |
20 |
4.0 |
34 |
6.00 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
L (8) |
14 |
2.3 |
37 |
6.17 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
ND |
19 |
5.0 |
66 |
5.79 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Included in the above numbers are one skipped start in which Miller worked on the side on mechanics between 6-16 and 6-27.
And now here are the numbers for the next 5 after that. (Artificial end points alert!)
|
Date |
Tm |
Opp |
Lev |
Dec |
BF |
IP |
GScr |
ERA |
H |
R |
ER |
HR |
BB |
IBB |
K |
HBP |
2B |
3B |
|
AAA |
W (5) |
21 |
6.0 |
67 |
5.40 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
L (9) |
20 |
4.0 |
30 |
5.65 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|||
|
AAA |
W (6) |
28 |
7.0 |
61 |
5.44 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
W (7) |
25 |
7.0 |
69 |
5.25 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|||
|
AAA |
W (8) |
24 |
5.7 |
53 |
5.22 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
What the Cardinals have implemented with Brent Strom has finally taken hold as the Cardinals hurler has returned to his previous velocity and increased his control. In Goold’s article, Strom was able to immediately get Miller’s velocity up and was looking at video of Miller in the lower levels of the minors. All points seem to indicate that the Cardinals have moved Miller back to his “old” mechanics.
Kevin Goldstein wrote up Miller in the Monday Morning Ten Pack this week for Baseball Prospectus:
Shelby Miller, RHP, Cardinals (Triple-A Memphis)
Miller was one of the biggest disappointments in prospect land during the first half of the year, and there were plenty of theories as to why his ERA sat at 6.17 at the All-Star break. Command and control issues were one reason, and they’re certainly looking corrected, as Miller struck out a season-high 10 on Saturday. In his last five starts he’s whiffed 31 over 29 2/3 innings without walking a single batter. More importantly, the stuff is back, as his fastball is back to 92-95 mph, and both his curveball and changeup are generating swings and misses. What was once a big cause for concern is suddenly looking like a bump in the road.
In early June, in the midst of Miller’s struggles, I indicated that there was a little bit, but not much to worry about with Shelby Miller. The only major red flag was his velocity at that time and the Cardinals have righted that ship and increased his control at the same time.
Sigh of relief time, Cardinals fans!
(All stats via Minor League Central. All links in tables go back to Minor League Central.)
Entries (RSS)
So if he has turned the corner then the question becomes can he help the big league club this year? Not as a starter but out of the pen in September. Also has he shown enough to put himself back in the front of the line for a rotation spot for next year?
No to this year. And I bet he is in a rotation competition in ST next year.
I assume he will stick with the organization’s strength and conditioning program for this winter, instead of choosing his own program ala last winter.
I hope that whatever he did last offseason is nowhere near what he is going to do this offseason.
I don’t think he picked “his own” last year. Everything I’ve heard about the situation was that there was a misunderstanding. Shelby thought they wanted him to get into better shape, so he eliminated a lot of his body fat and got very trim. However, the Cardinals wanted him to get into better “pitcher” shape. By that, they meant to add weight so that his body could be more durable and sustain a large innings load.
From what I know of the “problem” was that Miller was working out very hard in the offseason. When some from the Cardinals organization went to go see him and how he was doing, they noticed that is wasn’t what they intended. They corrected the situation then and there.
Somehow it got twisted around and it came out that Shelby was ignoring his workout program all offseason, did whatever he wanted, and came to Spring Training completely out of shape, which just isn’t true.
The Cardinals also have revised their strength and conditioning protocols to ensure guys go home for the winter with the best programs for their needs and their stage of development.
That said, I don’t know why a prospect who scored a $2.875 million bonus doesn’t have his own trainer. That’s really the only way for a pitcher to make sure he gets what he needs from his offseason workouts. The things that happen to a pitcher over time are just too weird to be addressed by a cookie-cutter program.
Great point, Lou. I completely agree.
Shit at this point I dont understand why the team doesnt send all the top guys to someone like Cressey.
excellent point Lou.
They should just slice of some of Lance Lynns girth and sew it onto Shelby…
lol
I did mention and got called out that he may not be the brightest as to following instructions and I did mention there was no reason to make changes this is what happens when a young player has 3 or 4 telling him what to do. Why did it take so long for them to send in Strom?
I am pretty sure he worked with a trainer amd instructor after he was drafted. Perhaps they told him he didn’t.needed to change nothing.?
Nothing but rumor and innuendo but I will repeat it………
I think there were real issues concerning Miller’s “coachability”. They didn’t bring Strom in timely on purpose – they wanted him to struggle. I’m not saying this is credible, but it does fit the timeline.
I’m not quite sure what to make of this “going back to his old mechanics” Who changed them? If it was Miller, that makes sense to me. If the Organization was behind it, then I am totally perplexed what their thinking could have been.
It’s easy to unintentionally alter/change mechanics, get in bad habits, alter an arm angle, etc., especially during an offseason. No different than a batter’s swing, or a golf swing, or any other athletic movement that can get off kilter.
I agree. It was noted further down that someone said Miller had changed his mechanics on purpose – presumably at the behest of his coaches. I’m just saying that made no sense to me. Per bacbored:
“Did you miss the part about the brain trust changed his mechanics.
After he pitched horribly, they went back and re-established his old mechanics and then he pitched much better.”
Miller’s ERA will depend on Westbrooke and Lohse.
You mean ETA ?
Or are those two some kind of baseball wizards?
LOL. Good catch.
I would think Miller at the very least starts next year in Memphis unless he has an incredible spring training but it’s safe to say that if he’s healthy next year, he’s making his debut. I think the kid needs to finish the year strong and get some rest
Why is everyone talking about Shelby’s workout program?
Did you miss the part about the brain trust changed his mechanics.
After he pitched horribly, they went back and re-established his old mechanics and then he pitched much better.
Does no one suspect a relationship there? Why is eveyone so eager to blame Shelby?
Should we start calling him Shelby Reyes?
Sholby Reyes. All the prospect ire and contention.
Soriano cleared waivers. Is Shelby still trade bait? lol