When the Boston Red Sox sent former top-prospect Marcelo Mayer to the San Francisco Giants for Erik Miller, CBO Craig Breslow was sending a major signal. This season is about winning, and Miller will be more help with that now.
For a while, the hard-throwing lefty has been exactly that. A major spark out of the bullpen who makes the Red Sox incredibly intimidating on the mound in the late innings. In his first 14 appearances with Boston, Miller gave up just two runs.
The last two games have been more of a struggle for Miller, though. In 1.1 innings, he’s given up four runs. That includes three runs in Wednesday’s rough loss to the Texas Rangers, which was good enough for Miller to earn a loss.
Boston Red Sox RP Erik Miller Opened Up on Struggles
Following Wednesday’s loss, Erik Miller faced the media following the game. There, he explained that his main issue on Wednesday was that he had control issues. Those control issues put him in bad counts, which made him predictable.
“Just not doing what I’ve been doing well,” Erik Miller said. “Just not getting ahead of guys. Getting behind. Falling into hitters’ counts… Guy knows what’s coming, it usually doesn’t end well. Just kind of working through some stuff right now.”
Red Sox fans and media both noticed Miller saying that he’s working through some stuff. Luckily, that doesn’t mean an injury. It’s more a reference to letting his mechanics get away from him.
“Yeah. Some stuff I’m trying to clean up a little. At some point throughout the year, stuff crops up. You’ve been doing really well and some bad habits kind of come up. So, I’ve just got to work through it. Get back to what I was doing and go from there,” Miller said.
The Red Sox need the version of Miller they’ve largely gotten since the trade. He has a 2.87 ERA in Boston, to go along with a 1.277 WHIP and 14.9 strikeouts per nine. That’s in 15.2 innings over 16 appearances.
Garrett Crochet Will Return to the Red Sox as a Reliever
The Red Sox bullpen is set to get a major boost soon. Ace pitcher Garrett Crochet is getting ready to make his return, but it won’t be as a starter. It’ll be as another power lefty for the bullpen to use.
The expectation had been that Crochet won’t be able to make a rehab and would jump back in right as the first-round of the playoffs start. That may not be the case now. It was recently reported that he could be ready even sooner. That means he’ll potentially pitch in the regular season as a kind of rehab.
“The comebacks of potential October contributors like Tanner Houck, Garrett Crochet, Johan Oviedo and others might also be aided by the fact the Red Sox might have a week (or more) to set up for the postseason,” Chris Cotillo of MassLive wrote. “It’s not out of the question that the club has someone like Crochet pitch in one of the final regular season games of the year in what’s effectively a rehab outing at the major league level in a game that matters little in the standings.”
It’s excellent news for the Red Sox. With Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, a healthy Garrett Crochet, and Erik Miller, Boston can feel very confident if they get just five innings from a starter.
Red Sox RP Erik Miller Shares Honest Thoughts on Recent Struggles