The Diamondbacks made one of the offseason’s most criticized moves when they sent a significant haul of young talent to Atlanta for right-hander Shelby Miller. One month into the season, the deal looks even worse for the Diamondbacks than its detractors thought it did at the time. Two of the players they gave up, righty Aaron Blair and shortstop prospect Dansby Swanson, have gotten off to impressive starts in the Braves organization. Miller, meanwhile, threw 19 2/3 innings in April and yielded 19 earned runs while walking one fewer hitter (15) than he struck out (16). Regarding Miller’s early difficulties, D-backs general manager Dave Stewart told MLB Network Radio (Twitter link) that expectations are weighing down the 25-year-old. “Shelby Miller is really just feeling some pressure of the trade,” Stewart said.
Here’s the latest on a few more pitchers from around baseball:
- Blue Jays reliever Drew Storen’s horrid April (eight innings, 14 hits, nine earned runs) won’t deter John Gibbons from continuing to rely on him, the manager told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. “I plan on just throwing him out there. You’ve got to. Otherwise you’re not very good if he’s not a key guy. The good ones, they all learn how to survive and make adjustments,” Gibbons said. As Nicholson-Smith notes, Storen’s average fastball velocity fell from 94 mph last year to 91.9 in April. On the bright side, he struck out seven batters against just one walk during the season’s first month.
- Cuban right-hander and offseason Dodgers signing Yaisel Sierra made his U.S. debut Saturday in a Single-A start and struck out seven hitters in four innings, though he allowed eight base runners (six hits, two walks) and three runs, according to Pete Marshall of the San Bernardino Sun. Sierra’s fastball sat in the low 90s and topped out at 94, which is the normal range for the 24-year-old. “I wasn’t good, I wasn’t bad,” he said of his performance.
- Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood had his best start of the year in a 5-1 loss to the Padres on Friday, throwing seven innings of five-hit, one-run ball while striking out nine and walking one. Wood’s encouraging outing came after a few days of working on a mechanical adjustment, writes Jack Baer of MLB.com. Wood’s delivery became easier to repeat, leading to better command, as a result of lowering his foot during his stride. “When I stride out, my foot off the ground has been fairly higher than it has been in the past,” he said. “It’s something that I thought was the last piece of the puzzle, in terms of my timing and getting my consistency back.” Wood’s performance against the Padres dropped his season ERA from 6.00 to 4.82 and increased his K/9 from a paltry 5.1 to 6.75.
- Rays closer Brad Boxberger continues making progress in his recovery from core muscle repair surgery on March 17 and should return to the majors later this month after a rehab assignment, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Boxberger went 41 of 47 on save opportunities last season and put up a 3.71 ERA, 10.57 K/9 and 4.57 BB/9 in 63 innings.
Pressure didn’t seem to faze Shelby when he was involved in the Jason Heyward deal. Stewart is grasping at straws.
While I do agree with you that Stewart is trying his best to save face in this, I think there’s an element of truth to it. Miller probably is under pressure. He’s suppose to form a 1-2 punch with Greinke who is also under a lot of pressure. Neither are coming as advertised and I’m sure it has to get to him
Agreed. There probably is some pressure, but I would think having Greinke in front of you would relieve pressure, as you’re no longer “the man” like he was with the Braves. Perhaps he is trying too hard though, but I doubt it. He never was an elite pitcher, though he has been traded twice like he is an elite pitcher. It’s weird!
I feel like Miller was always a bit overrated anyway, and knowing that he was the main piece in the shortchanged half of a one sided deal(of course he knows, he has the internet like everybody else) no doubt put some pressure on him. Playing half the games in Arizona wasn’t going to make him better, and his walk rate had no room to get worse. Tough spot for Shelby and I know he will pitch better than he has, but seems like many aren’t surprised by his early struggles in Arizona. It was a gutsy move by Stewart, but I suspect he targeted the wrong guy, and could have gotten a much more quality pitcher for what he gave up than what he received.
Yeah, this was a bad trade from the get-go. Miller just isn’t great,, especially in Arizona; I can’t imagine how he will fare in Colorado…
Could have easily been a good start for Jose Fernandez.
How Dave Stewart continues to be a GM is baffling. Not unlike LaRussa to have a fall guy however.
Seems Storen (and Giles) are both afflicted with the Curse of Papelbon.
After what some people had to say in defense of the dbacks and that trade, it’s quite satisfying to see this trade not only look as bad as many thought, but actually somehow manage to look even worse than it did at the time it happened.
While I think the pressure thing is total bs…is it really a good idea to say, “this pitcher we traded a ton for turns out to struggle when under pressure”?
Inciarte comes back this week hopefully he starts reestablishes his value and we can flip him. Use him to get even more and really make Stewart look bad.
On that note what kind of package could be put together involving Inciarte to the Gisnts in order to get Susac. Gonna need to be more from both teams but I think that may be a young catcher we can look to snatch up. Inciarte can take over for Pagan.
I love that the cover photo for this article is Arrieta circling the based after his home run.
That’s tremendously stupid…”oh he’s really throwing garbage…well I’m just going to keep throwing him out there”…good thinking Gibbons…it’s REALLY worrying so far…bullpen is 0-9…worst since 2004!