Welcome to the D-backs Beat Newsletter! I’m Steve Gilbert and I’ve been writing about the D-backs since 1998. Let’s get right to it … |
Honest as always, Shelby Miller will tell you he wasn’t sure how it was going to go when he signed a Minor League deal with a non-roster invite with the Diamondbacks just after Spring Training got underway. It was the right-hander’s second stint with the organization, and to say the first one didn’t go according to plan would be an understatement. But both the D-backs and Miller are in a much better spot than they were in 2016, when he was acquired in a controversial trade with the Braves that sent ‘15 first overall pick Dansby Swanson and outfielder Ender Inciarte to Atlanta and the team finished with just 69 wins. Miller’s first go-round in Arizona was marred by injury and struggles. As for the second, let’s just say it’s been quite a bit better. “He’s been a savior,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. Indeed, with co-closers A.J. Puk (left elbow inflammation) and Justin Martinez (right shoulder inflammation) both going on the injured list, Miller has found himself pitching in high-leverage situations and closing out games. “Without him at the extreme back end of the games, I don't know if we'd be in the spot we’re in,” Lovullo said. |
After leaving the Diamondbacks following the 2018 season, Miller reinvented himself as a reliever. He was dominant for the Dodgers in a relief role in ‘23 and made 51 appearances for the Tigers in ‘24. This spring he had a number of teams interested in his services. Most of those other teams, though, had Spring Training in Florida. Miller has made his home in Arizona since 2016, and with a newborn at home, the opportunity to play for the D-backs was too good to pass up. “I knew it was probably a long shot making this team, or you know really any team, when you’re a non-roster invite,” Miller said. “There were other teams out there that probably would have been an easier path, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I knew I had an opt out, so if I had a good spring and didn't end up making the team, there could be some potential for other opportunities.” |
But almost from the first bullpen he threw in front of Arizona pitching coach Brian Kaplan, Miller’s path to the Opening Day roster became more plausible. Kaplan suggested Miller throw his sweeper again and adjusted the placement of his thumb on his splitter. Both tweaks have paid dividends. It was a different experience for Miller, who said often when he would switch teams he would be asked to make wholesale changes. Kaplan, though, encouraged him to stick with what worked, minus the two small suggestions. It’s made the second stint in Arizona just feel right. “Ever since I've set foot in Salt River the first day, it’s been great,” Miller said. “Everybody here is amazing. Like I said, I think the coaching staff is phenomenal, [GM Mike] Hazen has done a great job of putting a winning team together, so I'm happy to be a part of it. It's still so surreal. Me and my wife talk about all the time how it's so cool to get to go home and play here and just be in a place that I love a lot. It’s a really fun team to be a part of.” |
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Second baseman Ketel Marte came out of Wednesday’s game after the sixth inning with some fatigue. Lovullo explained that with Marte having missed a month of the season with a left hamstring injury, the team is still being cautious with his workload. In fact, Lovullo had planned on giving Marte Wednesday off entirely, but Marte talked him out of it, saying it was important to try and win the series so he wanted to be in the lineup. “‘At least let me see what happens for the first half of the game,’” Lovullo said Marte told him. “And I signed off on that. In the sixth inning, I looked at him -- I could just tell that he was telling me a story without saying anything. And I said, ‘How you doing?’ He said, ‘I'm not doing that great.’ I said, ‘Can you give me one more inning?’ He said, ‘I'll try.’ And by the end of that inning, we decided that it was time to take him off the field and just call it a day. He hit two home runs. He did his job, handed off to the next guy.” |
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