Steve Webb
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA — Bobby Miller checked another box as the young righty works his way back to the big leagues. On Sunday afternoon Miller pitched for the Dodgers’ minor league affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, going three innings on
Pitching alongside his Dodger teammate Evan Phillips against the Modesto Nuts, Miller got touched up for three runs in the second inning, but pitched scoreless frames in the first and third, striking out four along the way. His line for the day: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Obviously, you’d like that to be a little better, but it was a definite step in the right direction.
So far this season, Miller had one amazing start and two duds. His first start, at Dodger Stadium on March 29th, couldn’t have gone any better. Six scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on just two hits with eleven punchouts. You could argue it was the best start of his young career. Then, when the Dodgers hit the road, he sputtered. In rainy Chicago, he gave up five earned runs and didn’t even get out of the second inning. Then, a few days later in Minneapolis, he pitched better, two earned runs in five innings of work, but that was the end of the line. He went on the IL with “right shoulder inflammation on April 13, and he hasn’t pitched a big league inning since.
His numbers for the truncated beginning of the year: 1-1, 5.42 ERA, 11.2 IP, 18 K. We’ll see how many outings the Dodgers brass feel he needs before he sees the Chavez Ravine mound again.
