Veteran pitcher Miller lands an audition
For the second time in less than two weeks, the Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a minor-league deal with a veteran pitcher released by the Texas Rangers.
The Brewers on Friday confirmed earlier reports that they had a deal with righthander Shelby Miller, once a bright star with the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves who never got back on track after undergoing Tommy John surgery with Arizona in 2017.
Earlier in the month, the Brewers signed lefty Drew Smyly, also released by the Rangers.
Miller, 28, was cut by Texas after going 1-3 with a 8.59 earned run average over 19 games, including eight starts. In 44 innings, he allowed 58 hits and 29 walks for a 1.977 WHIP.
“It’s another opportunity to see if we can ‘unlock’ someone who really has a lot of talent,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “We’ll allow him to go to Triple-A, similar to Drew Smyly, get some time in down there, and then we’ll see if he can help us here at the bigleague level.”
Miller was a first-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 2009 and went 26-18 with
a 3.33 ERA in 69 games over two-plus seasons before being traded to Atlanta for outfielder Jason Heyward. In one all-star season for the Braves in 2015, he went a deceiving 6-17 with a 3.02 ERA.
In a trade that came back to haunt the Diamondbacks, they acquired Miller that December from the Braves in exchange for shortstop Dansby Swanson, outfielder Ender Inciarte and pitcher Aaron Blair.
Miller went 3-12 with a 6.15 ERA in 20 games with Arizona in 2016 before undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing most of the next two seasons.
Miller signed a one-year, $2 million deal with Texas before this season. Overall, he is 38-56 with a 4.11 ERA in 150 games (132 starts) in the majors.
Smyly, 30, who was 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in 13 games (nine starts) before being released by the Rangers, has made two starts for the Brewers’ Class AAA San Antonio affiliate. He is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in those outings, with six hits and no walks allowed over nine innings, with 10 strikeouts.
“He’s thrown the ball well so far, and that’s encouraging for us,” said Stearns.
Whether one or both will make it to Milwaukee remains to be seen, but the club continues to leave no stone unturned in its search for pitching help.
“It never hurts when you see avenues for success for guys,” he said. “And when you think you can help guys, it’s worth giving it a shot.”
International prospects on hand
Sixteen-year-old prospects Luis Medina and Hedbert Perez, outfielders from Venezuela who topped the Brewers’ recent group of international signings, took batting practice at Miller Park, with family members and baseball trainers accompanying them.
“It’s a little bit poetic that this is where they ultimately want to be,” Brewers international scouting director Mike Groopman said.
“They know this is the first step. It’s a very long road to get back here, a lot of ups and downs. A lot of tough times and high moments. But it’s a blessing for everybody in the organization to see these kids here.”
Reports indicated the Brewers gave Medina a $1.3 million signing bonus and Perez a $700,000 bonus, the top financial commitments in this class. Both are lefthanded hitters and throwers with tools that give them a chance to develop into major-league players one day.
“Medina has a lot of power, as you can see from his batting practice,” Groopman said after Medina sent several drives into the seats. “He’s a pretty good outfielder as well. We feel good about his hitting ability, really strong throwing arm, and his defense in the outfield.
“The same with Hedbert. He’s an outstanding athlete, probably one of the best pure athletes in the class. Has power, hit ability, can really run and throw.”
The international signing period is still in progress, so the Brewers haven’t announced their full class yet. Players who sign at age 16 cannot play professionally until next year, so they go to the team’s Dominican academy and then on to instructional ball in Phoenix in the fall before being assigned to a team in 2020.
Gonzalez getting closer
Left-hander Gio Gonzalez made his first minor-league rehab start Wednesday for advanced Class A Carolina, as he continues his comeback from arm fatigue.
Gonzalez threw 48 pitches over two innings and allowed four hits and two runs with two strikeouts.
“Arm felt great. That was the most important thing for me,” Gonzalez said. “I was trying to attack the strike zone and didn’t have any walks, which was great. All my pitches were working the way I wanted them to work.
“For me, it was getting the feel throwing to hitters, getting the adrenaline up and seeing how I felt, then the next day I came in and I felt great.”
There will be another one or two minor-league starts scheduled for Gonzalez, although manager Craig Counsell didn’t have any specifics on Friday.
“From Gio’s perspective, we missed 61⁄2 weeks, and we had a setback in there. We’ve got to be careful about his health as much as anything,” he said.