Miller made his Springfield debut.

6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 5 K, 2 BB.  Also threw in an RBI double.

APRTW wrote:

What ws the deal with Maikel Cleto  even being promoted?

Innings eater.

Sounds like the promotion was what he needed.  He needs to be forced to throw the offseed stuff.  He didnt need to do that to be effective in the lower levels.  From his quote he has yet to see the value of them.  Also it looks like the team is trying to avoid him become the next Anthony Reyes. 

To those who missed his introduction before Friday's first pitch, Shelby Miller announced himself to a near-sellout Hammons Field crowd with the second.

According to the stadium radar, the Cardinals' brightest pitching prospect in more than a decade offered a 97-mile-per-hour calling card to Tulsa Drillers center fielder Tim Wheeler.

A murmur followed, then an opposite-field double on a misplaced breaking pitch. After that, a 20-year-old righthander typically described in shades of dominance showed why the club attaches more potential to him than any pitching prospect since Rick Ankiel.

In his first home start for the Class AA Springfield Cardinals, Miller followed the first-inning double by striking out the side. He framed a second-inning double with two more strikeouts before shoving two more in a hitless third.

Miller needed only 45 pitches to reach the fourth inning, where, after a leadoff strikeout, he encountered multiple baserunners before escaping on two ground balls.

A season-high crowd of 6,025 watched Miller deliver early in the 10 inning, 10-9 win.

"It was a good one," Miller said.

Barely two years since the Cardinals selected him with the 19th overall pick of the 2009 draft, Miller reached Double-A in only 35 starts. He pitched Friday precisely four months before his 21st birthday. The Cardinals, however, have no plans of promoting him beyond his current level before season's end. Better to let a rare talent smooth his edges here.

During the next several months Springfield pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd will execute a checklist to prepare Miller for the next step.

"I'm just glad I'm here," Miller said. "Being at Double-A with these guys and this team playing against this level talent at my age just makes me a better pitcher."

The club wants Miller to add a sinking fastball to the riding one that overwhelmed a number of hitters Friday. A curveball that Miller prefers not to throw needs to become an effective strike pitch.

"Big league hitters don't chase off the plate," Eversgerd reminded. "They'll chase on the plate below the zone. That's what we're trying to get him to do."

Other nuances revealed themselves Friday. Miller didn't back up third base on an errant throw from the outfield, allowing two runners to  advance. Failure to check a runner at second base invited an easy steal of third that resulted in an unearned run when a catcher's throw short-hopped past third baseman Zack Cox.

"Those are big plays," Eversgerd said. "When you get up there [to St. Louis], Tony [La Russa] expects those things to be done. Fielding your position and executing the running game are big."

In six innings Miller mixed 65 strikes among 97 pitches and showed a consistent 91-mile-per-hour fastball that could jump another four to six notches.

He struck out nine, including seven in the first three innings, before the Drillers produced six baserunners and three runs in his last three innings.

Miller touched 96 on a scout's gun during a fifth inning that brought Eversgerd to the mound before the Drillers completed a two-run, two-out rally. Drillers third baseman Warren Schaeffer took Miller's first out to the left-field warning track. A walk and a single compounded by an unnecessary, errant outfield throw put runners at second and third before first baseman Ben Paulson delivered a two-run double to right field, again on a breaking pitch.

Miller left the game trailing 3-2 but was absolved of a decision when the Cardinals tied the game in the seventh inning. A pitcher's duel shared by Miller and Colorado Rockies first-round pick Christian Friedrich preceded a chaotic finish in which shortstop Domnit Bolivar hit for the cycle.

The Cardinals scored three runs in both the eighth and ninth innings.

"Tonight, I just threw 80 percent fastballs like I did at Palm Beach," Miller said. "I just go with what's working. If I'm striking people out like I did tonight, I'm not changing anything so they can start hitting it."

Friday's start was Miller's second since being promoted from Class A Palm Beach, a level he dominated with 81 strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA in 53 innings pitched. Miller made his Texas League debut a week earlier, allowing one run while striking out five against Corpus Christi, the loop's worst team.

Miller's promotion from Palm Beach took him from a spacious park in what is known as a hitter's league to tighter confines against better competition. Barely challenged in the Florida State League, Miller had to be persuaded to throw more off-speed pitches before advancing.

"It's just a matter of using them," Cardinals farm director John Vuch said. "He's never been forced to use them from a competitive standpoint. He's used them enough to get by. He's a competitor. He wants to win games."

The Rockies' affiliate has two of the league's top five hitters. Wheeler entered leading the league with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs, just ahead of injured Springfield first baseman Matt Adams in both categories. The first three hitters Miller faced were lefthanded.

The past two weeks Miller was transformed from a name to be watched to an organizational celebrity. Within hours of announcing his own promotion, Miller's Twitter account exploded from barely 400 followers to more than 3,000. "I don't even know 3,000 people," he said.

What outfielder Colby Rasmus meant as a position player, Miller represents as a power pitcher drafted and developed by a club known for teasing its fan base with sinker-slider pitchers who excited few outside the organization. Classified off limits in any potential trade, the Texas native projects as a No. 1-2 major league starting pitcher.

"You look at some of the organization's pitching prospects the last few years and Shelby is probably the first prototypical power-type guy we've had in awhile," Vuch said. "He's an upper echelon guy who still needs to develop. There's a lot to work with."

Last edited by APRTW (6/11/2011 4:40 pm)

forsberg_us wrote:

I can't say whether he featured his off speed stuff, but whatever he did tonight worked:

7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 0 R

Yes, but before we start picturing him doing the same in St. Louis, let's remember that he currently has the advantage of a AA defense.

I guess the game wasn't over when I first saw the stats.  Miller's final line

8 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 0 R

forsberg_us wrote:

JV wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

I can't say whether he featured his off speed stuff, but whatever he did tonight worked:

7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 0 R

Yes, but before we start picturing him doing the same in St. Louis, let's remember that he currently has the advantage of a AA defense.

Rec

I concur, JV you have to stop doing things like this or I'll get busted reading the forums out loud. I nearly spit soda all over my desk.

Well played.

6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Through four starts:

26 IP, 1.38 ERA, 6 BB, 25 K - 0 HR

Latest starts

Miller- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 8 K, 2 BB

Martinez- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 2 BB

Martinez is being promoted to Palm Beach (High A)

Last edited by forsberg_us (6/27/2011 4:40 pm)

tkihshbt wrote:

Woot. This must have been what the farm junkies felt like in 1996 when Morris and Benes were on the rise.

Even I am geting excited about these guys.  It is nice having the top pitchers in the system be better the Lance Lynn and PJ Walters.

artie_fufkin wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

Woot. This must have been what the farm junkies felt like in 1996 when Morris and Benes were on the rise.

Woot?

A term that makes fun of Dungeons & Dragons players.

Max wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

Woot?

A term that makes fun of Dungeons & Dragons players.

Roll your percentile dice, you need 87% or higher to avoid being hit by the curse of the 12th level Druid, iMax.

I achieved immortality on the version of D&D that the vendor loaded on our office minicomputer (small mainframe running on the "Unibasic" operating system) back in the mid-'80s. 

All this and Adam Kennedy too.  Feel free to express your awe.

I never played a computer version of D&D, just the old fashioned graph paper and odd-sized dice version.