Bobby Miller struggles, but Dodgers complete sweep of Rockies

Los Angeles Times

17-04-2025

One year and three weeks ago, Bobby Miller was at the peak of his young major league career.
After a promising rookie campaign in 2023, the hard-throwing right-hander had made the Dodgers' 2024 opening day rotation. In his season debut, he dominated the St. Louis Cardinals with 11 strikeouts over six scoreless innings. And as a former top prospect in the organization's pitching-rich farm system, his ascent in the big leagues seemed to be just beginning.
One year and three weeks later, he now faces a long climb back.
Called up from triple-A Oklahoma City for a spot start Wednesday, Miller's first MLB start of 2025 mirrored the struggles that plagued him over the rest of 2024.
Over a woeful three-inning outing, the 26-year-old gave up six runs to the middling Colorado Rockies. Despite striking out seven batters, he was knocked around for a five-spot in the third, punctuated by a hanging curveball Michael Toglia hit for a grand slam.
The Dodgers still won, riding a seven-run first inning to an 8-7 victory that completed a three-game series sweep at Dodger Stadium this week.
But Miller's implosion was another troubling sign for the Dodgers' young depth options on the mound.
Like Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack before him, his return to the majors inspired little confidence.
In a rare opportunity to make an impression on the Dodgers' big-league roster, he instead faltered in a frustratingly familiar script.
Two innings into Wednesday's start, Miller appeared to be in full control.
He had limited damage in a three-hit first inning, striking out the other three batters he faced to give up just one run. He breezed through the second, stranding a two-out single with two more strikeouts.
And in between, he waited in the dugout for the 25 minutes while the Dodgers launched an assault on Rockies starter Germán Márquez.
Shohei Ohtani blasted a 448-foot leadoff home run to the top of the right field pavilion. Freddie Freeman also found the right field seats for a solo blast two batters later. From there, the Dodgers just kept coming, with Andy Pages singling two runs home with the bases loaded, Austin Barnes tacking on two more with a double that marked his first hit of the season, and Ohtani collecting another RBI in his second at-bat of the inning with a base hit.
All told, the Dodgers scored seven times, had nine batters reach base and chased Márquez from the game after 37 dismal pitches.
It seemingly set Miller up to cruise through the rest of his night.
Instead, it all came unglued in the top of the third.
After responding to a leadoff single with his sixth strikeout of the game, Miller lost his feel for, what up to that point, had been an effective curveball. He hung one to Kyle Farmer for a single. He missed with two to Hunter Goodman to walk the bases loaded.
Then, in a 1-and-2 count to Michael Toglia, he fired another that stayed over the heart of the plate. Toglia unloaded for a grand slam. Miller hid his frustration behind a stoic face.
So often last year, Miller endured starts like this, unable to build upon his early-season momentum in what became a forgettable campaign.
Following that dazzling debut against the Cardinals, he yielded seven runs over 5 ⅔ innings in his next two starts. Shoulder inflammation landed him on the injured list for two months after that. And once he returned, he never looked the same, stumbling to a 9.34 ERA over his final 10 outings.
During that second-half stretch, Miller was dogged by a nagging knee issue. But wild command (he walked 30 batters in 56 innings on the season) and lack of execution with his breaking pitches (highlighted by a .357 batting average against his curveball) were equally troublesome problems.
On Wednesday, they resurfaced again.
An at-bat after Toglia's grand slam, Miller fell behind Mickey Moniak by throwing two changeups that bounced to the backstop. Then, with Barnes holding his catcher's mitt low in the zone, Miller fired a fastball that stayed up and over the plate. Moniak hit it the other way for a solo home run. What had once been a 7-1 lead was trimmed to 7-6.
Luckily for Miller, the bullpen picked up the slack against the woebegone Rockies (3-15) — including three innings of one-run relief from swingman Ben Casparius, who provided a bridge to Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott to close it out.
The Dodgers' offense, meanwhile, provided just enough breathing room with a fifth-inning RBI single from Pages.
The question now: What will the Dodgers do next Wednesday, when there will once again be a hole in their rotation?
Tony Gonsolin is still expected to make one more triple-A rehab start before returning from his back injury. Knack (who had a 7.27 ERA in three outings this year) and Wrobleski (who yielded eight runs in his lone start last week) have already been optioned.
Given Wednesday's results, Miller might be facing the same fate.
Before the game, manager Dave Roberts had remained bullish on his long-term potential, reflecting back at where he was one year and three weeks earlier.
'He was just really thriving,' Roberts recalled. 'As far as the upside potential, absolutely [it's still there].'
Wednesday, however, was a reminder of how far he's slipped trying to reach it.