Spotlight Focus on the Right-Handed Pitcher
When you survey this year’s MLB Draft on the surface, it’s full of a lot of college pitchers. right-handed pitcher Bobby Miller is one of the many options available. Currently, Miller ranks 27th overall among the Top 150 Draft Prospects, according to MLB.com. Coming in at six-foot-five-inches and 220 pounds, Miller’s height plays to his advantage on the mound and could be a nice selling point for interested teams.
Currently, Miller is a junior at the University of Louisville. This year, prior to the shutdown for COVID-19, Miller made four starts putting up a 2.31 ERA and holding opponents to a .181 Batting Average Against. Throughout his college career, Miller has quite a few accolades. One of the most notable is that he was a member of the Freshman All-America Team in 2018.
Just last year, Miller further added to those accolades by pitching in the College World Series. Although the start was shortened due to rain, Miller pitched four innings against Auburn University. Furthermore, the 21-year old right-hander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning last June in the Super Regional against East Carolina University.
Strengths
The most notable strength for Miller is his ability to throw swing and miss high-velocity pitches. Miller throws his fastball with a lot of speed and it has a lot of moving action as it travels to home plate. Last year, during the near no-hitter against East Carolina, Miller’s fastball reached 95 and 96 miles per hour.
Additionally, Miller relies heavily on a very effective slider and cutter combination. However, it’s not an overly dominating slider as it usually sits in the mid-’80s. On the scouting scale, Miller received a grade of 55 for his slider pitch. Given that Miller is 21 years of age, there is still plenty of time for him to refine his slider even more.
Furthermore, another strength of Bobby Miller is his ability to pitch deep in his starts. For instance, just this year in the four starts Miller made, only one start was short of six innings in duration. Last season, Miller had one start of seven innings and two starts that lasted eight.
Weaknesses
Chief among the weaknesses for Bobby Miller is a concern regarding his long-term durability and chances of staying as a starting pitcher. In fact, some scouts believe that Miller might be more destined for a long-relief role out of the bullpen. If that is the case and Miller develops his pitches more, he could be a very valuable late-inning reliever for an MLB team.
Secondly, another thing that Miller could work on is his ability to throw strikes. While his pitches feature a lot of movement, he could afford to strike out more batters. Miller did start to do more of that this year with the University of Louisville – recording 34 strikeouts over 23 and 1/3 innings of work. However, over 80 innings pitched last year, Miller recorded 86 strikeouts.
MLB Comp
One really good current MLB comparison to Bobby Miller is right-handed Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta. Pivetta is the same height and weight as Miller himself. Additionally, Pivetta is one of those fringe starting rotation pitchers who are more destined for the bullpen over the long-term. Last year, Pivetta made 13 starts and 17 relief appearances.
Overall, Pivetta is a below league-average pitcher in many regards. Since making his MLB debut in 2017, Pivetta has shown some flashes of brilliance but has also struggled quite a bit. As a starting pitcher in 2019, Pivetta posted a 5.74 ERA over 69.0 innings of work. Coming out of the bullpen, Pivetta had a 4.38 over 24 and 2/3 innings of work.
For Bobby Miller, the same type of track might end up happening. There’s no telling how Miller will develop as he ages, considering that Pivetta will pitch in his age 27 season this year, but there are some comparables between both right-handers.
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