On Thursday night, Bobby Miller got the job done for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Looking to keep the momentum going after their 6-4 win on Wednesday, Miller allowed just three runs on five total baserunners in five innings of work — an outing on the mound that was more than enough to give them a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Miller, however, believes that he can do so much better. It has been a point of frustration for the 25-year-old Dodgers starter that his good outings have been undone by a single mistake, which the Orioles punished when Colton Cowser hit a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning.
“I feel pretty good. Four and two-thirds of really good pitching, and then just one bad pitch. Seems to be a story of my last few outings. Just one bad pitch that I don't want to look back on. Unfortunately, it's over the fence. But one day, soon, it will fall,” Miller said in his postgame presser, per SportsNet LA on X, formerly known as Twitter.
But of course, it wasn't just one mistake that led to Bobby Miller allowing three earned runs on the night. After all, the Dodgers starter led off the fifth inning by hitting Eloy Jimenez with a pitch, and then he allowed a walk to Ramon Urias to give the Orioles two baserunners on the inning, which Cowser drove in with one swing of the bat off of a 97-mph heater from Miller.
“I wouldn't have faced [Cowser] if I didn't walk the guy before. There was a couple of guys before that that I was having a lot of success on. HBP, and then a walk. Yeah, just not getting no one early enough towards the end of the game,” Miller added.
But for Miller and the Dodgers, all's well that ends well. The 25-year-old may not have ended the game in the way he had hoped, but he still got the win, which is a testament to all the things he did well. But a sign of a player with an elite mindset is that relentless drive to improve, and Miller is showing that in spades with his assessment of his performance against the Orioles.
Bobby Miller gets back on track for the Dodgers
Promoted to the majors in 2023, Bobby Miller was a revelation for the Dodgers in his rookie campaign. Miller had one of the best fastball velocities as a starter, with his average fastball clocking in at 99.1 miles per hour, and it resulted in a solid 3.76 ERA campaign across 22 starts (124.1 innings) — which was worth 2.8 WAR according to Fangraphs.
However, Miller has encountered a ton of growing pains in his sophomore campaign. After making just three starts to begin the year, Miller landed on the injured list due to a shoulder injury. The results since he has come back from the IL have been mixed, however. In six starts from June 19 to August 23, the Dodgers starter put up a ghastly ERA of 8.36 in 28.0 innings of work — including a game in which he allowed nine runs to cross the plate against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The good news is that the start against the Orioles makes it look as though Bobby Miller is back on track. Limiting a team with many dangerous offensive weapons like Baltimore does to three runs is no mean feat, and Miller could very well use this as a turning point to pitch more in line with his 2023 season, provided, of course, that he cuts the mistake pitches from his game.
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