The Resurrection of Shelby Miller

Before this season, the mere mention of the name Shelby Miller would likely be enough to start any D-backs fan frothing at the mouth. For he was involved in what is arguably the worst trade in franchise historyof three players of undeniable potential, in exchange for three years of Shelby Miller and a guy who couldnt crack John Sickels top 20 Braves prospects.However, you could see the goal of the trade, in that the Diamondbacks were in win now mode. They no longer wanted to hoard prospects, but instead, convert them into major-league ready pieces Justin Martinez Jersey, which could help immediately. In what feels not dissimilar to recent Arizona teams, the 2015 D-backs outscored everyone in the NL bar the Rockies. But they had only league average pitching, which is why they finished the season 79-83. The trade for Miller was intended to address that, coming a day after the team had signed Zack Greinke to a then club record six-year, $206.5 million contract. Add Robbie Ray, Patrick Corbin and Archie Bradley and - again, echoes of 2025 - the team had a rotation to fear. Well, on paper, anyway. Because the whole pitching staff fell apart, the D-backs having the highest ERA in the entire majors at 5.09, as they collapsed to a record ten games worse. Its often forgotten now, but Miller was far from the only pitcher to struggle with Arizona that year. While he was certainly the worst affected, the problems were universal, to the point you wonder if there was potentially something larger at play. Of the five starters mentioned above, who combined for 128 starts, Greinkes 102 was the best. We then had Rayand Millerwas like, for the way I release the baseball, my arm slot, mechanically, the splitter makes sense. We tried it, got a grip we liked and the rest is history. It was nice to get back on track, right? Developed that splitter to help me level out lefties. Lefties used to slug a lot against me in the past. I developed it for lefties but I started using it against righties as well. That was really a fun pitch. Shelby Miller, December 2023As a result of his success, he was able to parlay the season into another one-year deal, but this time was guaranteed $3 million by the Tigers Tommy Henry Jersey, twice his earnings with the Dodgers. He earned an additional $100, 000 for reaching 50 appearances, but with a mediocre 4.54 ERA the team decided not to exercise its $4.35 million club option for this season, paying a $250, 000 buyout instead. That send Miller onto the free-agent market again. Though he should be used to that by now. Because every year since the D-backs let him go at the end of 2018, has seen Miller without a team for Thanksgiving, getting signed instead at some point between early December and March 27. The returnFebruary 17, 2025: Signed as a Free Agent with the Arizona noted above, it was a shock to many fans when the team opted to make Miller a non-roster invitee. But Shelby proved a force to be reckoned with out of the D-backs bullpen in spring training. Small sample sizes be damned, he faced 25 batters and struck out 11, while not walking anyone. His velocity was a healthy 94.7 mph, better than the 93.5 mph averaged last year in Detroit. His chances were helped by the pre-season injuries to Kendall Graveman, Kevin Ginkel andJordan Montgomery, all of themlikely higher up the relief pecking order than Miller. Their absences opened the door, and Shelby was happy to walk through it. The D-backs were number one on my list, because this is home. Its an incredibly strong team. Great offense, great pitching, signing Burnes and everybody. Im just really excited to be here. I knew it would be a tough team to make with the arms that they have, but I have confidence in myself. You always want to come in with tons of confidence, saying youre going to make the team and all that. Honestly thats how I felt. I know I can pitch at a big league level. Shelby Miller, March 2025The results proved undeniable, with Miller pitching a no-hitter for the D-backs across his first nine innings for the team. He faced 30 batters, retiring 27 of thembefore - oh, the irony! - Dansby Swanson, now a Cub, got the first hit off Miller in the 2025 season. That came in an extra-inning game at Wrigley and was the only run Shelby allowed, until that heart-stopping May 4th win in Philadelphia. He is already 3-0 on the season: that matches his entire tally of victories in the entire 2016 campaign with the D-backs, where he made twenty starts. Despite the blown save in Philadelphia, his ERA is still only 1.15, and even his FIP was a highly respectable 2.76. Fangraphs had an interesting article looking at Miller, noting the increased velo mentioned above, and a change in his arsenal. Miller has changed his breaking ball from a slider to a sweeper. The sweeper, in addition to spinning faster, moves horizontally instead of vertically; basically, Miller traded about six miles an hour for 11 inches of horizontal break. When Miller was throwing a hard slider with more up-and-down movement, he could throw it to batters on either side of the plate, and for strikes. This grander breaking ball is more of a chase pitch. Miller is working his secondaries low and out of the zone. And now that hes throwing pitches outside the strike zone more, batters are obliging him by chasing.Initially, Torey Lovullo wasnt confident enough to use Miller in crucial situations. 1.0 is an average leverage: Shelbys first three appearances had leverages of 0.03, 0.31 and 0, 22. But his good performance, combined with further injuries to those ahead of himled to Millers promotion up the ladder. His last eight had an average leverage index of 2.51. He now owns three of the five highest leverage appearances this year by a D-backs reliever. Despite that first trio of outings, his season average of 1.76 is highest on the team , and it feels like Shelby Miller would currently be the pitcher most likely to be chosen by Lovullo in a save situation. Thats quite a sentence to find myself writing. If youd gone back to 2018, and told younger, considerably more angry me Id be saying that, I would have looked at you very oddly. But as they always say, You Cant Predict Baseball, and here we are, with what is currently one of the coolest comeback stories in Diamondbacks history. Well see what happens with Miller going forward: some regression seems likely, but Id be more than happy to take the FIP the rest of the year. If he keeps this level of performance up, who knows - Shelby might even still be employed come Thanksgiving 2025.Its just been a whirlwind of years for sure. I think just having that perseverance. Not only doing it for myself but for the people around me. People who love me and my family. I still have a ton of love for the game. I still know Im capable of pitching quality innings. Riley Smith Jersey

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