D-backs’ Shelby Miller wins dubious ‘NL Cy Yuk’ midseason award
Jul 13, 2016, 9:22 AM | Updated: 2:01 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks' Shelby Miller pitches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, June 20, 2016, in Philadelphia. Arizona won 3-1. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded number-one overall draft pick Dansby Swanson, top pitching prospect Aaron Blair and solid every-day outfielder Ender Inciarte to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Shelby Miller last winter, critics came out of the woodwork.
Those same critics are sitting back now at the MLB All-Star break with that all-knowing “I-told-you-so” look on their faces. Who can blame them?
Miller has struggled mightily in the desert, going 2-9 with a 7.14 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. Opponents are feasting on him, batting well over .300. The first half of Miller’s season also included a bout with mechanics, during which he was scraping his right hand on the pitcher’s mound on follow-through, and a stint on the disabled list.
The 25-year-old is the recipient of ESPN’s Jayson Stark’s first-half “NL Cy Yuk” Award, presented to the least-effective pitcher in each league.
Writes Stark:
I believe it was either Bruce Springsteen or Heathcliff Slocumb who once said: “You can’t walk away from the price you pay.” And I’m pretty sure Shelby Miller could tell you all about that — probably for like the next 3½ hours. It isn’t his fault the Diamondbacks decided to trade the No. 1 pick in the draft (Dansby Swanson), one of their best pitching prospects (Aaron Blair) and one of baseball’s best defensive outfielders (Ender Inciarte) for him last winter. But holy schmoly. From the moment Miller somehow hurt himself by scraping his hand on the mound throwing a pitch in April, it’s been hard to remember a trade this big that turned into this huge a mess this fast. Hasn’t it? Fasten your seat belt securely around your waist. Then take a look at Miller’s first-half numbers: 2-9, 7.14 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, just two quality starts and a .312/.386/.523/.909 opponent slash line, which mean he has basically turned every hitter he has faced into Brandon Belt. So that’s not real encouraging. And nobody has a good explanation, although the usual explanations apply (velocity down, command worse, delivery a mess, confidence shot). As America’s only licensed Cy Yuk voter, I’ve come to learn that some of these picks are easier than others. If you’re guessing this was one of them, hey, good guess!
The D-backs have some decisions to make on Miller before they resume their schedule Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“We are spending a ton of candle power thinking about everything possible,” La Russa told Doug and Wolf Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “Everybody is looking at it really hard, trying to think of alternatives, because he is a key factor. This guy has talent. We think there were some issues that complicated the early part of his struggles. Now, he’s swimming upstream. He does alright and one thing goes wrong, it gets away.
“Probably the basic issue is, do you give him the ball at the big-league level and try to get him better or do you give him a break? He has options, we can send him off to the minor leagues to get him better. That’s probably the most immediate decision.”
