Since returning from their season-ending trips to Triple-A Oklahoma City, Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler have been in the same boat.
The Dodgers continued to believe in their potential even after a difficult, injury-plagued first half of the season.
But to be in the rankings in October, they must match their end-of-season performances.
So far only one person has answered the door.
While Buehler has shown signs of life — and said he’s feeling more like his old self — with back-to-back encouraging starts, Miller continues to trend in the wrong direction, hitting perhaps a new low in his frustrating sophomore season in Wednesday night’s 10-1 loss to the Angels in Anaheim.
Miller’s first inning was a disaster. He walked his first batter, then hit the next one. He gave up two runs on back-to-back singles, then served up a first-pitch three-run homer to Mickey Moniak.
Just like that, it was 5-0… before Miller had made his first clean sheet.
Things didn’t get much better for the 25-year-old right-handed pitcher from there. Despite retiring eight batters, he walked three and gave up two more home runs: first to .079-batting designated hitter Niko Kavadas in the second inning, then another to Taylor Ward in the fifth.
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The five-inning, seven-run start gave Miller a 7.79 ERA in 11 games this year (more than double his 3.76 mark in his promising 2023 debut).
And with Landon Knack set to be called up on Friday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto expected to return from his shoulder injury next Tuesday, as manager Dave Roberts announced prior to the game, it’s fair to wonder whether Miller will remain in the Dodgers’ rotation anytime soon — let alone be considered for their still-unsettled staff for October.
A recurring problem for last year’s star player: Miller struggled to control his secondary pitches and was penalized for fastballs he threw over the plate (his four-seamer averaged 98.3 mph but didn’t produce a single miss).
His technique also seemed to be off, perhaps due to a knee problem he has been struggling with since his return from a two-month absence mid-season due to shoulder inflammation.
The good news for the Dodgers is that pitching reinforcements are on the way.
Yamamoto’s start on Tuesday will be his first since suffering a rotator cuff injury on June 15. Though the right-handed Japanese rookie threw just two innings in his final rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, the 53 pitches he threw in that game (including 17 in one at-bat against former MLB All-Star Omar Narváez) were enough for the club to recall him.
“The way we look at it is we get four starts from him [before the postseason],” Roberts said of Yamamoto, who was 6-2 with a 2.92 ERA before the injury. “If we can log four starts and build volume, we’ll be ready to move on.”
Staff ace Tyler Glasnow is also making progress in his recovery from elbow tendonitis. He threw a flat-ground session before Wednesday’s game and could return to throwing bullpen sessions this weekend, Roberts said.
If the Dodgers can get both pitchers back in time for October (or Clayton Kershaw, who continues to catch while nursing a bone spur on his left big toe), the team might not need Buehler and Miller in the October rotation. Jack Flaherty and Gavin Stone have been more consistent than either of them so far this season.
But given the Dodgers’ bad luck with injuries this year, it’s possible there could be a hole in the sky in the playoffs.
Buehler provided cause for optimism last week.
Miller, on the other hand, is going back to the drawing board.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
