Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
Casually reading articles around the internet I came across this quote Shapiro was credited with on the Indians official website.
'Who knows? Maybe Raffy Perez goes back there. Maybe we give Adam Miller a look there. Maybe Tom Mastny gets back in sync, and he becomes that guy'This comes from Anthony Castrovince's latest notes column linked here.
I was trying to remember an example of such a high profile Indians prospect pitcher in recent years transitioned to the pen and all I could remember was Tavarez, and he's not even close.
This seems very surprising, but he's definitely an intriguing option for the pen and maybe fits better there this year with some of the injury issues he has had so far this year. It is nice to see the team taking win now stances in their thought process, and hopefully it makes for a very interesting month regarding roster moves.
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Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by nickjs21 on Jun 21, 2007 10:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by talonk on Jun 22, 2007 12:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by BoDiaz1974 on Jun 22, 2007 12:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by mkwng on Jun 22, 2007 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by Jay on Jun 22, 2007 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by notsince48 on Jun 22, 2007 9:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by Ryan on Jun 22, 2007 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by Jay on Jun 22, 2007 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
I really think this is a bad idea, even worse than the Carmona experiment. Fausto at least had no injury history when he went to the bullpen. Miller's had a serious injury scare already, and has never pitched in relief before. And at least Papelbon made the move right at the beginning of the season, when there was time to get him acclimated to the role.
Also, if he limits his innings this year thanks to relief stints (he's already behind schedule thanks to the finger injury), it's going to take two more seasons to get him stretched out to making 30 starts in the majors. CC Sabathia will probably be gone after 2008.
I just think it would be a horrible developmental move for the Miller and the franchise. If you want to turn a starter into a reliever for the stretch run, try Paul Byrd.
by Ryan on Jun 23, 2007 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Byrd or Cliff Lee!
I can see your point, and I think it would be a bit risky - I'd rather Miller be used as a starter if at all possible.
After all, Miller's IP will already be lowered because of his time on the DL, enabling us the ability to use him late in the season and even into the postseason if necessary because of that DL stint.
In addition, we have other power-arm bullpen options to consider - Mujica, Sipp (presuming he returns and can pick up where he left off,) even Jensen Lewis now. I'm not sure we'd have to resort to using Miller, who has had a serious injury in the past, in a role he is not accustomed to just to shore up the bullpen.
As you imply, what if it would take that long to get Miller stretched back out as a starter again? Even worse, what if some serious injury occurred from Miller being used out of the bullpen, like say, TJ surgery being needed - Miller might not be back until 2009 at the earliest, and unless the Indians can come to some agreement with CC, we'll have no #1 starter to lead the rotation at that point (Carmona would probably be the closest one, but I think he'd fit better into the #2 spot in the rotation, with a Sabathia or Miller ahead of him in the rotation.)
Like you said, turn Byrd or even Cliff Lee into a reliever before turning Miller into one; his injury history makes me leery of changing roles on him, not knowing how his arm will take to the change in routine. While the bullpen experience would be good, just like it was with the Twins' Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano, can he stay healthy during this change? I'm not so sure I want to risk finding out.
Just my 2 cents. :-)
by indiansfan on Jun 23, 2007 3:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Byrd or Cliff Lee!
by drerikbrady on Jun 26, 2007 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by nickjs21 on Jun 22, 2007 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
by Roger Dorn on Jun 22, 2007 10:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: Miller In The Pen? Yes, that Miller
There's no doubt he's in the plan to contribute to the parent club later this year in some role. We'll be in a playoff run and he's one of the better pitchers in the whole system. I think a lot of it will depend on how the starting 5 fares over the summer. If Lee, Westy and Byrd pitch close to what's expected of them, Miller will likely see time in the Cleveland pen come September. If someone goes down or completely flops, he'll step into the ML rotation.
by mcrose on Jun 23, 2007 10:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

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