Bobby Miller impressing at Dodgers minor league spring training

Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller isn’t currently on the 40-man roster, but it’s not a stretch to expect him to make his major league debut at some point in 2022.

Miller was drafted in the first round out of Louisville in 2020, and after some time at the alternate training site at USC that year he posted a 2.40 ERA and 30.4-percent strikeout rate in High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa in 2021.

In October, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman mentioned Miller, Ryan Pepiot, and Landon Knack among the pitchers expected to be in or near the majors this season. In the last week at minor league camp in spring training at Camelback Ranch, Miller topped 100 mph multiple times.

Director of player development Will Rhymes spoke to reporters in Arizona about Miller’s ascension. From Juan Toribio at MLB.com:

“It’s hard not to have him as one of the more improved players,” Rhymes said of Miller. “Physically he looks incredible. He has continued to put on some muscle and gained strength. But he also made a few tweaks to his delivery that have impacted the quality of his four-seam.”

Links

• Drew Avans, who hit .275/.389/.438 in 90 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2021, was among the mid-tier hitting prospects Ben Clemens profiled at FanGraphs. “Outfielders with blazing speed are useful bench pieces even if they don’t hit much; they can come in as a defensive replacement in several spots, pinch run, and back up a few positions. That’s a nice floor, and Avans could be more than that,” Clemens wrote.
• FanGraphs is one of the indispensable baseball sites around, and is asking for support for the site if you are so inclined.
• Jeff Passan at ESPN put into context the importance of Tuesday’s MLB-imposed deadline for a 162-game season: “While optimism was cautious for the planned in-person meeting Tuesday, both parties recognize that the complicated labor talks could run into an obstacle if MLB cancels another batch of games, prompting pay and service to become another potentially problematic divide.”
• Mike Axisa at CBS Sports looked at what we’ve missed so far with MLB games canceled due to the lockout.
• Lady Gaga will have a concert at Dodger Stadium on September 10, with tickets on sale next Monday.
• Britt Ghiroli at The Athletic wrote about the MLB Players Association’s camp at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Arizona, allowing locked out players a place to stay ready and prepare for the upcoming season. Among the players there on Monday was Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol: