Dodgers: Prospect Experts Excited to See Bobby Miller Debut in 2022
The Los Angeles Dodgers always seem to have a couple intriguing pitching prospects. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot made it onto everyone’s radar in 2021. 2022 could be the year for righty Bobby Miller to start turning heads.
Miller was selected as the Dodgers prospect the MLB.com panel is “excited to see in ’22”. His four pitch mix (fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup) has a lot of people in the Dodgers organization excited. Scouts graded his fastball (65) and slider (60) as “plus” pitches.
However, the panel of three MLB.com writers noted that Miller must improve his command to make it to the majors.
“With a heavy fastball that can park in the upper 90s, a sharp mid-80s slider, a developing low-80s curveball and a lively mid-80s changeup, he’ll help the Dodgers as soon as he tightens his command a bit more.”
The consensus amongst scouts is that the 6’5” Miller projects a starter. Los Angeles Player Development seems to agree. Miller started in 14 of the 17 games he appeared in between High-A and Double-A. The former Louisville Cardinals allowed just 15 earned runs in 56.1 innings pitched (2.40 ERA).
2021 was another reminder that there isn’t such a thing as too much pitching. Miller isn’t likely to be named to the Opening Day roster, but should get at least a few cups of coffee in 2022. Who knows. He might even be a factor in September and October.
The Dodgers 2020 first-round pick could be taking the hill at Chavez Ravine sooner, rather than later.
NEXT: Dodgers Reportedly Sign Infielder Eddy Alvarez to a Deal
You know, sometimes it is a good thing to just plug a guy in and see what happens. You never know. I think we should have one of our three prospects (Miller, Pepiot, Knack) at least on our radar for an early call to the big club. And Jackson should be on the opening roster. This could be the perfect year for a dice roll. Solid offense and solid defense gives us an easier mind to make the decision. We DO have Urias and Buehler #1 and #2 starters, probably Clayton #3 or better. Roll the dice if spring stats are solid.
that makes good sense. but id cut back on buehlers and julios workload this year as a precautionary measure after dave overcooked them last year. and id move julio back into a hybrid relief role where hes excelled. dave overcooked kershaw too. probably destroyed his career. and maybe scherzers too. id say resign jansen but dave probably overcooked him too.
Mike, I’m sorry about the overcooking bs. Do you have no sense of history? Today’s starters would been considered relievers back in my day! Yes the game has changed but saying a starter can’t go at least 200+ per year is just plain ridiculous.
I disagree. Julio excelled most as a starter. 20 Wins! What more do you want! And don’t start counting Kershaw out because he’s been injured. He’s been rarely injured and very resilient. He’s a stud and we need to let the experts and him decide his future.
Your over-cooking theory holds no water. In the past, starters pitched on 3 days rest, with no pitch counts, and had way less injuries than today. If you were paying attention, Scherzer’s complaint was that he was pulled too early from starts, so his arm wasn’t built up enough for the extra demand in the post season. Ohtani is a great example, when they babied him, he was constantly injured, when they let him play every day, he had his first injury free season, and played to his potential.
Overcooked? What the heck are you talking about? Since when is <6 innings per start for Urias "overcooked"? I didn't even like hearing on the radio broadcast with Charley during a game that "quality start" criteria should be lowered to 4 innings!
Go look at the stats of IP within the first 5 years of Max, Kershaw, deGrom, and our Best Friend Bumgarner and you'll see how weak your post is.
The relief staff was overworked due to God-awful bullpen games due to losses of Bauer, and various starting staff injuries.
I’m getting tired of seeing “awaiting moderation” on this poorly designed glitchy website.
Makes perfect sense to me!
Price needs to be a starter. Urias and Buehler #1 and #2, Clayton #3, Price #4, Gonsolin #5. Give Miller more time in the minors.
I disagree. Julio excelled most as a starter. 20 Wins! What more do you want! And don’t start counting Kershaw out because he’s been injured. He’s been rarely injured and very resilient. He’s a stud and we need to let the experts and him decide his future.
Price has shown that he is over the hill. I would use White, Jackson, Heaney before him, no question.
Agree
Not sure Price has shown he is over the hill. He has never been given a shot. He took 2020 off, and in 2021 was never built up. Not sure why they wouldn’t at least build him up as a starter and at least see what he’s got. He’s only 36, was a former ace, and knows how to pitch.
It’s because his era this lasy season wad over 4 and the pitching coaches can see the quality of the pitches he throws. Plus when he does pitch he gets hurt.Think about it! They needed pitching so bad and still held him back.
Face it, the Red Sox were wanted to get rid of him so bad the agreed to pay 16 millon dollars for us to take and we only did it to get the Mookster.
Price proved himself useless for 2021 which shows he didn’t take conditioning seriously enough during his off-year. Even Gonsolin was a better pitcher and he was on a short leash from injury and pitched less innings.
I know this is the guy I wanna see! I thought Mitch White and Andre Jackson showed themselves capable and Miller looks to have more potential than both of those guys if you ask me.
Look folks if we didn’t learn anything from 2021 other than the fact that starters simply ain’t worth what they once were. Just look at the WS and that should tell you EVERYTHING. Get 3+ out of your starter and get to a lights out back end of the pen? Game over!
Happy New Year all.
Let’s go Dodgers!
I wouldn’t say game over. Covering 5-6 innings is a tall order when you have an all or nothing offense who refuses to change their approach in October
We all have our ideas of what the Dodgers should do — that’s fun! However, I think that what we have learned from Cory Seager is that the Dodgers are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents. The taxes in California will make it a real challenge to get a free agent to sign with the Boys in Blue. There is always the exception (Mookie) and hopefully there may be some players who just want to play in southern California.
That’s such an over talked about narrative. I see this comment a million times a day around the internet. People who cry about California taxes and leave are average folks. Gazillionaires with Boras as their agent aren’t gonna suffer much it’s chump change. It’s not the tax it’s the fact that not everyone wants to play here but that’s hard for Californians to fathom sometimes because they think it’s so great here as they complain everyday and dream of Texas
You certainly don’t seem to like LA Don. As long as I’ve seen your negative posts you criticize our team, the coaches, the front office and always sound bitter and demeaning. What happened? Did the peanut guy accidentally hit you in the head when you were a kid and you still have an ax to grind? Either that or your a troll from the team up north!
Honestly look inside, why all the negativity? The rest of us are here becsuse we LIKE our team!
Don’s been here longer than any of you Blind homers. I completely agree with Don mostly 90% of the time. The difference between some fans than others are some fans ‘DEMAND” excellences from their product at all times. Spending 280 mill, picking up a HOFer pitcher at the deadline along with the National batting champ, then not knowing how to utlize their strengths is ridiculous. Understood no team can win every year, but losing because your manager doesn’t play fundamental baseball and makes soooooo many head scratching maneuvers that little League coaches don’t make is hard to swallow. None of us know why Seager , Knebel,Joc,Keke’Scherzer Kelly and many more made a mass exodus , but I agree with Don that along with State directed lunacy, traffic, and many other things contribute to them leaving. But IMO, the BIGGEST reason is they don’t have any faith in the Barney Fife cheerleader that folds every October…
The biggest loss of the players you mention is only Kelly. Kiké sucks. I like Joc but he didn’t play better at all until he went to Atlanta. Max is a turncoat crybaby who I figured was just a rental. Knebel? Eh we have more relievers for Roberts to mess up.
Who has been on the blog the longest is irrelevant. I can agree that Doc makes some odd decisions, but that’s not my point. My point is that Don never has anything positive to say, its always negative. I really do wonder why he follows a team that, in his opinion, is so mismanaged.
Snd bte, there seems to be 2 people logging in herr named Dave, so I’ll be Bohemian.
What’s to be positive about? Our manager decreases our chances of winning in October instead of increasing and Our hitters don’t function as a team when the games matter most. If you like that then enjoy it but some of us are real fans and wanna see this franchise finally achieve the greatness it’s capable of. It’s 2022 and all they have to show for what they’ve done is a 60 game championship. Only a true fan like myself and a few others would be having a hard time accepting this. Fans like you I question how much you really care if you’re ok with how this team goes about things
You’re just proving my point. Don just try to be supportive about something,, otherwise I ask again, why are you here?
You couldn’t pay me to dream of Texas. As bad as our utilities are here, they’re unregulated in Texas. As low as our school test scores can be at times, they’re abysmal in Texas. People complain about our government here, but it’s laughable in Texas, plus we don’t have any senators abandoning the state and hopping on a southbound plane during a crisis one minute, then hopping on a flight to the middle east to posture the next. Nobody wants to pay taxes when they make less then $50k a year. Nobody anywhere. But many of the ultra-rich just want to be richer and actively seek ways to avoid paying their share.
Also the reason why the Seager thing is Garbage is that Mookie signed a massive contract to play in, oops, Los Angeles, CA.
He’s wanted to get paid AND win a ring. He has the chance for more. Seager likely won’t be in contention for years.
It’s yet another reason the lockout is stupid because inflated player salaries are the fault of the owners that cause the mid-level players to also want a bigger share during their career and after when they retire.
Patently false
Do NOT overlook Caleb Ferguson. He was a starter before he was brought up to be a reliever. And a darn good reliever. He will likely transition to starter as well. Currently, there’s only one lefty- Urias. And none of the prospects (Gonsolin, White, Jackson, Miller) throw left handed.
And don’t forget Dustin May!!!
Random thoughts:
We have a wealth of young pitching talent. Some may get traded for SP help. I don’t see harm in running those who are ready through the rotation in the first half of the season when our place in the standings is less important than eating innings. Especially given Buehler and Urius’ use in 2021.
Is there a logical explanation for David Price? We’re paying him 16 mill to be babied; I don’t get it! Use him or trade him, we need the roster spot and he could be some teams’ sleeper.
One thing about young pitchers, they come into spring training having to compete for a spot on the ML team. I think in Gonsolin and May’s cases last spring the competition for the 5th starter spot cost them and us. I’ll go to my grave convinced they were mismanaged while it was clear they were both going to see a lot of opportunities to pitch in 2021. It was a meaningless competition. I don’t want to see that happen this year with guys like Jackson, White, etc..
Again, there was nothing wrong with the number of innings pitched for Walker and Julio.
I like the idea of using young pitchers to eat up those innings that Roberts would normally have our main bullpen eating and getting burned out by September. The Dodgers never seem to think about how they’re gonna be at their best for October, instead they go all out to make sure no one else wins a division title.
I think the whole issue with our pitchers is combination of the front office & Dave Roberts not knowing how to handle them! I would like to see more influence from retirees Burt Hooten, Sandy Koufax & Orel Hershiser.
Dodger Steve Bingo!! Exactly…….Drrrr just blew a 280 mill dollar roster, sat hot hitters, played players out of position, held his best options in triple A down while playing below Mendoza failures, burned up his starters because he was so arrogant about the Vagiants folding ….. And people think miraculously the dodgers will win? Nothing will ever change with Drrrrr as the manager of the dodgers….The Pads and Vagiants have caught up, and now both have coherent managers that will start schooling Drrrrrrrrrr…..
This narrative is getting so old and really is bull. 2021 stats. Dodger team ERA 3.01. Dodger team ERA in August 2.25. Dodger team ERA in Sept 2.91. Considering the injuries, loss of starters, number of bullpen games, and grind to end of season, the results were nothing less than brilliant.
Padres 2021 team ERA 4.10. August ERA 4.44. Sept ERA 5.82
Give it a break
And after all of that incredible pitching that went to waste. The Padres ended up watching the World Series just like we did.. Give your 4th place is ok a break. Don’t be aBlind homer!!
You said the Ps and Gs had coherent managers that school Roberts, as I recall the Dodgers eliminated the Giants, and the Padres collapsed. The Dodgers won the world series the year before with Doc, so go be a Padre or Giant fan if you can’t appreciate the success the Dodgers have had for years under the present management, and think they have better organizations.
Do you comprehend what people say? Now have managers that will school Drrrrrr. You need to read it through. And the old “You don’t like the manager, and say bad things routine is getting worn out!”” Being a Dodger fan is a choice my friend, being a BASEBALL fan is a blessing. Watching ANY manager fail because they are arrogant and won’t change their f-up ideals is going to bring harsh criticism from myself and many others. Why is it none of you guys want to talk situations, and circumstances regarding just WHY myself and many others disapprove of the rookie mistakes Drrrr keeps making in the biggest moments? Instead jumping right into ” Your not a True fan”, you should go root for the Padres!!!! It’s weak and frankly a excuse, just like everyone gives Drrrrrrrr everytime he chokes. It’s time for a new manager, a new direction and a qualified leader to win Multiple titles, not a shortened season when MVP type players opt out and the competetion is jaded.
kdl – who’s the blind fan? we are soo sick and tired of your rant, constant bleating, so tiresome and stupid. you are the one guilty of all this crap; Do you comprehend what people say? You need to read it through. And the old “You love the manager, and say good things routine” is getting worn out kdl. your criticism of doc is weak and frankly an excuse for the team not hitting, pitching, and winning 162 games a season and 11 straight in the playoffs.
Jackson, its past time to treat kdl like the troll he is. After all we are the true Dodger fans – he’s a shill for the giants and pods no doubt. One thing is for sure – kdl is far from a BASEBALL fan.
Steve, the Dodgers in this century don’t hire from within. They waste them on tv or at charity events. All of this wasted knowledge. They prefer brainiac shiIIs for sabremetrics to be in the dugout
Hate to bust your balloons
here guys, but there is no wealth of young pitching talent in this organization, with the possible exception of miller. All the players you guys are talking about are 25 or older. Not even prospects anymore. Career minor leaguers as someone else has called them. Very very rare for a pitcher to burst on the scene at age 25, let alone at 27/28.. top or middle of the rotation pitchers are always on the big league roster at 23/24 learning how to pitch. Look it up. The good pitchers were all in the bigs long before 25 or 26.
Nope. Only Jackson is 25 and he sat over a year with TJ recovery after college. Pepiot, Knack, and Beeter were all drafted after college; Pepiot in ’19 while Knack and Beeter were drafted in ’20 (same as Miller.)
Moreover, Jacob deGrom turned 26 in June of his rookie season.
Mr. Don Cato, I appreciate your opinion about the “narrative” of ordinary people leaving California because of the taxes. In Corey’s case, the 55 million dollars more that the Dodgers would have to pay to financially match the money from Texas (or is it Taxes) for his services is more than a narrative.
spot on glen. these guys like Don and kdl remind me of a broken clock; they may get 2 things right a day
You’re not right any more times than they are
i think its better not to respond personally to everybody. it usually turns into an argument. rhe universe forces us to have different opinions and go in different directions. is anyone ever entirely correct all the time or is it just a percentage of the time and most of the time were anywhere from zero to one hundred percent correct and only partially right on average statistically from person to person. clarity of thought is hard to quantify with so many different opinions right? of course theres always those that would totyally disagree. what are you going to do about it? you might as well accept it . it is what it is. why get upset about it? im just going to state my opinion and i dont really care what you think about it unless it starts to turn people against me. then i might let it go instead of getting in an argument over something that will soon be forgotten anyway. nobodys going to remember us or what we had to say or even care after a few decades anyway when were all kicking up dirt. it doesnt matter how sound or intricate your points are. nothing can prevent some idiot from coming at you and spitting on you and saying no youre wrong and i dont care what u have to say.
.
Well said, Mike.
i think price is on permanent vacation. its just a feeling i get. i might be wrong though. if u start to respond to me personally im not going to answer u personally. i might comment on some ideas though or give my own take on a situation. but in the end i try to respect everybody and leave them alone and hopefully theyll leave me alone. i dont hate roberts. i think its a big soap opera. the dodgers are turning into an episode of days of our lives. theres about 1500 to 1700 plus innings during a season with spring and the playoffs included. i believe a team has to manage workloads year round to compete effectively. and id spread the load around carefully by estimating each pitchers load as carefully as i could. some pitchers can effectively handle 200 innings and some guys would be better off from a health standpoint with 50 or 20 innings or not pitching at all. id want to keep all my guys fresh for the postseason and not ever burn them out if possible. maybe the last 3 games of the fall classic i might push some of them a little. but id try not to overwork them because the next season comes around quick and id want to have their backs because you need team cohesion and id want to operate at peak efficiency. you have to protect your players because the seasons are long and one year flows into the next one.
Spring Training doesn’t count. The vast majority of the innings played are by NRIs and Minor Prospects vying for a lottery spot on the 40 and to see how they handle against “Majors pitching and scenarios” wearing the Real Uniform. This will determine who gets called up when the Big Boys inevitably get injured, or maybe become a viable trade piece for the FO – who knows? That’s why lockouts suck if it goes beyond January in particular.
The clock is ticking.