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ST. LOUIS – The Dodgers sent Bobby Miller to Triple-A midseason to get him back into shape.
This weekend they called him back – but not because he had completed the job.
Miller returned on Saturday with most of his issues still unresolved. His velocity is still low. His secondary pitches are inconsistent and he is prone to home runs.
“It was certainly a matter of circumstance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said when asked before the game whether Miller deserved his recall based on his performance in Triple-A, where he allowed nine runs in 13 innings. “But I think that’s what happens a lot.”
In his comeback on Saturday, Miller allowed four runs on eight hits – including two home runs – in 4 ⅔ innings and the Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2.
As if their weekend didn’t have enough problems (with Tyler Glasnow being moved to the injured list and the day-to-day search for a starting pitcher), Freddie Freeman was forced out of the game in the eighth inning with a finger injury. Nolan Gorman’s ground ball in the sixth inning took an unfortunate bounce and hit Freeman on the middle finger of his right hand.
Freeman said the X-rays were negative and said he was “monitoring it day by day.”
“I was a little nervous when my finger swelled up like that,” he said, showing reporters the swollen finger.
“It just kept getting bigger and bigger and as you know, when you pinch something, it just swells up and gets tight. It was pretty painful when I was throwing, so the best thing to do is get myself out and put some ice on it and see how it goes the next day.”
Miller’s sophomore season was marked by a rising ERA (now 8.02) and decreased velocity, below last year’s 99 mph average. That continued on Saturday. After an early improvement, his fastball averaged 97.2 mph in the loss. He combined that with erratic command of his secondary pitches — he threw four wild pitches and frequently fell behind.
Both of the home runs he allowed came when Cardinals hitters were in a favorable situation waiting for his fastball. Alec Burleson hit a 2-and-0 fastball for a two-run home run in the third inning and Masyn Wynn sent a 2-and-1 fastball over the center field fence for a solo home run in the fifth inning.
“It’s really just about getting behind a few guys. I really think that was the weak spot tonight, just falling back with early off-speed and fastballs and crushing a few,” Miller said. “Just focus on getting ‘strike one’ on every single batter and it’s a whole different game.”
The search for Miller was non-stop all season and included a two-month stay on the injured list due to a shoulder injury.
“It’s just hard to pitch from behind, and he was behind hitters all night,” Roberts said. “I think it took him 3 1/2 or 4 innings to find a breaking ball anywhere near that good. He couldn’t land a curveball (for a strike). … The changeup was an out-of-hand ball, and then he got a little feel for it, but at that point I thought he was running out of steam.
“I think it ended up being much better than it started and I’m looking forward to the next one being even better.”
There will be a next for Miller. He will continue to take Glasnow’s place.
“That’s the thinking right now, yes,” Roberts said. “But he has to continue to show progress.”
The Dodgers’ offense couldn’t keep up with Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. The only damage was done by Shohei Ohtani – with his legs and his bat.
Ohtani began the game with a walk and a run. He stole second base (the first of two steals in the game, bringing his season total to 37), went to third base on a flyout and scored on Freeman’s single to right.
In the fifth inning, he hit his 38th home run of the year on a hanging curveball from Pallante, a drive that sent his bat hitting 111.9 miles per hour.
Ohtani had a batting average of just .172 (11 of 64) in August, but six of those hits were home runs.
“It was an offspeed pitch in the heart of the plate, so that was something I could handle,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “I want to improve the other at-bats, just the overall quality.”
The Dodgers had only two more hits in seven innings against Pallante (singles by Miguel Rojas and Kevin Kiermaier in the second inning). The Dodgers did not have a baserunner after Rojas’ leadoff walk in the seventh inning.
“I thought the challenge was his fastball was doing different things,” Roberts said of Pallante. “It was cutting and sinking and then the four-seamer ride and we certainly couldn’t get anything rolling. He was throwing strikes against righties and lefties. We just couldn’t get innings going.”
“I think that’s one of the things you have to give him credit for tonight, because I think the fastball had some late movement where the hitters were missing. You saw some funky swings on the fastball that you don’t normally see from our guys.”
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