In a surprise free-agent move, the Los Angeles Dodgers are signing a former All-Star pitcher for their staff.
No, not Jacob deGrom, or Justin Verlander, or Carlos Rodon.
The Dodgers are signing Shelby Miller.
Yes, that Shelby Miller.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday the Dodgers are signing the 32-year-old right-hander to a major-league deal, pending a physical.
ESPN reports the deal is for one year, at $1.5 million, with performance bonuses.
Will be a major-league contract… https://t.co/4ORX1K3iBb
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 30, 2022
In this day of advanced analytics, the Dodgers obviously see something promising in the veteran. It’s easy to glance at his stats from recent years and wonder, though. Since his All-Star season with the Atlanta Braves in 2015, Miller has a 6-24 won-loss mark. (Granted, the W-L record means little these days; even in his All-Star season, Miller somehow went 6-17.)
In four appearances last season with the San Francisco Giants, Miller had a 6.43 ERA. That was actually an improvement from 2021, when he had a 9.24 ERA in 13 games between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Once again, it all comes down to Miller’s analytics. One fan recently broke down some of those numbers, concluding, “Shelby Miller is one of the more underrated FA.”
Shelby Miller is one of the more underrated FA. His FF had 18.3" of IVB with a -4.29° VAA, and he's in the 98th percentile in extension. His sweeper SL pairs well with the FF, and he had a 121.9 Stuff+ in 2022 pic.twitter.com/fjbyZFfROl
— Reek (@CardinalsReek) November 12, 2022
Baseball fans had mixed feelings on the signing.
“Dodgers signed a former All-Star starter who is now a reliever that hasn’t even had a decent season in seven years,” tweeted one fan.
https://twitter.com/Blake_Treinen/status/1597771978634833920
Dodgers signed a former All-Star starter who is now a reliever that hasn't even had a decent season in seven years. Yet, there's already a lot of reason for optimism with Shelby Miller even before Mark Prior gets his hands on him. https://t.co/TOvmhPikDX https://t.co/CZty82GpEy pic.twitter.com/ErigXcF53u
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) November 30, 2022
if cubs couldnt fix him no one can
— aaron (@ahhhaaron) November 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/uitrq_/status/1597747758613422081
Shelby Miller stepping up when Evan Phillips or Yency Almonte hits the IL will be a game changer next season
— ∞ The Infinite Dodger ∞ (@InfiniteDodger) November 30, 2022
Guys. Shelby Miller is probably going to suck. And considering most of his issues are in his head, he is a ticking time bomb even if he does pitch well.
— CraigInPhoenix (@craiginphoenix) November 30, 2022
