Cubs pitcher Tyson Miller will open the season on the injured list. His official injury designation is a left hip impingement and he will go to the 10-day injured list. With the Cubs playing their first domestic regular season action on Thursday, it is likely Miller will miss the first few series for the Cubs.
The speculation is that his placement on the injured list is less about an injury and more about clarity. Miller has had a rough spring for the Cubs. This spring miller tossed 4.2 innings and gave up 9 runs while walking four. His 17.36 ERA may give the Cubs some pause on determining his role in the bullpen. Despite making the trip with the Cubs to Japan, Miller did not throw a single pitch in either contest.
After being DFA’d by the Mariners last May, Miller was acquired by the Cubs in exchange for infield prospect Jake Slaughter. In his second stint with the Cubs Miller put together his best career season.
A career year
His 5-1 record paired with his 2.15 ERA in 49 games helped to salvage the Cubs bullpen last season. He put together a career year and registered 1.4 bWAR, his first with a positive mark in that area.
Miller did a great job of limiting walks while maintaining an average strikeout rate. Despite sub-par velocity, he limited damage to 13 runs in 50 innings. Miller ranked as the third-best pitcher on the Cubs last season in terms of ERA and ERA+. He often played the part of setup man, giving way to Porter Hodge in the 8th/9th innings.
Miller offers a funky sidearm-style release contrary to the over-the-top movement of many of the game’s best pitchers. Unlike other tall pitchers, Miller does not throw hard for someone who is 6’5. When looking at his baseball savant page, you will see that Miller grades out very favorably in many areas.
For starters, few pitchers had a better BB% than he did at 4.7% (94th percentile). Additionally, he limited his hard-hit rate to 34.5% which was 82nd percentile. Lastly his Pitching run value, Fastball run value, and Breaking run value all graded out as 84th percentile or above. His only blemishes are his average fastball velocity of 89.6 which is 4th percentile and his 30.9% ground ball rate which is 2nd percentile.
Given his unorthodox release and lack of velocity, Miller is very susceptible to homers if he isn’t locating his pitches well. The twenty-nine-year-old will not overpower hitters, rather he relies on great movement to miss bats and induce weak contact.
A chance to see other arms shine
The Cubs may now gain more clarity on how their bullpen will shake out the rest of the season. After optioning Eli Morgan, likely for the same reason, the Cubs will get a close look at some of the young pitchers in the bullpen.
With the first week of the season fast approaching, arms like Porter Hodge, Nate Pearson, Ryan Brasier, Caleb Thielbar, and Julian Merriweather will get their chance to prove themselves against live major-league hitters in a game that counts.
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