DODGERS NOTEBOOK: MILLER IS WILD MAN.Byline: TONY JACKSON
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer Dodgers minor-league left- hander Greg Miller Greg David Miller (born November 3, 1984, in Orange, California) is a Major League Baseball pitching prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system. Greg was on the fast track to the majors in '03, but a shoulder injury in the spring of '04 slowed him. spent all of 2004 and most of 2005 reviving a once-promising career that had begun to appear dead after he didn't immediately bounce back from a shoulder operation that was supposed to sideline him for only a few weeks in 2004. The result was a feel-good story in perseverance that by this spring had landed Miller back on the organizational radar, with a good chance of being in the big leagues sometime this year. But now, Miller might have run smack into another career- threatening issue. "He has been wild, and he just has to try to harness that wildness," Dodgers player development director DeJon Watson said. But Miller, still just 22, might need something stronger than a harness. In eight appearances (including seven starts) at Triple-A Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. this season, he has walked 32 batters in 23 2/3 innings. Twenty of those walks have come in his past four starts, none of which lasted longer than four innings. In each of those four starts, Miller walked at least four batters. It all came to a head last Friday against Oklahoma, when Miller lasted just one-third of an inning. He hit the first batter, committed a balk balk the action of a horse when it refuses to obey a command to which it usually responds. See also jibbing. , threw a wild pitch, gave up a sacrifice fly, then walked the next four batters in succession -- with a second wild pitch mixed in -- before manager Lorenzo Bundy Charles Lorenzo Bundy (born November 6, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the manager of the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Playing career mercifully came to get him. At times, Miller has been "effectively wild." He has 27 strikeouts, and while his 6.46 ERA is bad, it isn't as bad as it could be considering he was charged with five runs in that one-third of an inning his last time out -- B.J. LaMura, the man who relieved Miller, immediately gave up a grand slam grand slam n. 1. The winning of all the tricks during the play of one hand in bridge and other whist-derived card games. 2. Sports The winning of all the major or specified events, especially on a professional circuit. to Texas prospect Nate Gold. Watson stopped short of saying Miller's wildness has become a mental issue. "I wouldn't go there yet," Watson said. Miller's next scheduled outing is Thursday at Portland, but Hong-Chih Kuo Hong-Chih Kuo (Traditional Chinese: 郭泓志; pinyin: Guō Hóngzhì) (born July 23, 1981 in Tainan City, Taiwan) is a Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. will start that game with Miller coming in behind him. Big difference: Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra[1] (born July 23, 1973, in Whittier, California) is a Mexican-American baseball player who currently plays third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers. , who went 8 for 13 in last weekend's three-game sweep of Cincinnati, entered Monday night's game with St. Louis hitting 166 points higher at home (.391) than on the road (.225). Neither Garciaparra, who never pays attention to statistics, nor manager Grady Little William Grady Little (born March 30, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is a manager in Major League Baseball. He guided the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2003, and has been manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2006. could explain the discrepancy. "That's just the way it is right now," Little said. "I'm sure that by the end of the season, those numbers will have evened out." It is worth noting that Garciaparra's power numbers are virtually identical both home and away. His only home run came on the road, and six of his 10extra-base hits have come out of a suitcase. Garciaparra entered the season hitting .332 for his career at home, .304 on the road. CAPTION(S): box Box: DODGERS vs. ST. LOUIS - Tony Jackson |
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