As we close in on Spring Training 2011 for the Boston Red Sox, the team announced 20 non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Many of these players will end up in the mid-to-low minor leagues and won’t see major league time this season, but there is at least 1 name on the list that could play a key role in the majors this season. Andrew Miller is a valuable member of the Red Sox organization because he has major league experience, is a lefty and is still young and impressionable. Pitching coach Curt Young will work with Miller this Spring and if all goes well, he could end up in the major league bullpen before the season is over. (more after the jump)
Here is the full list of now-roster invitees as reported by Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe:
LHPs
Rich Hill
Andrew Miller
Randy Williams
RHPs
Jason Bergmann
Brandon Duckworth
Matthew Fox
Tony Pena Jr.
Jason Rice
Clevelan Santeliz
Kyle Weiland
Alex Wilson
Catchers
Tim Federowicz
Paul Hoover
Ryan Lavarnway
Infielders
Brent Dlugach
Hector Luna
Nate Spears
Drew Sutton
Outfielders
Che-Hsuan Lin
Juan Carlos Linares
One of the major uncertainties of the Boston Red Sox right now is their lefty-specialist in the bullpen. They re-signed Hideki Okajima and have brought in other Spring Training non-roster invitees Rich Hill and Randy Williams, but Andrew Miller seems to be a favorite of the Red Sox management. The feel strongly that if Miller can gain some consistency with his throwing motion, he could be a staple in the majors for years to come. Although he will likely begin in the minors, probably at Pawtucket, he can easily find his way to the majors by pitching well, because the Sox were not happy with Okajima last year and don’t appear to believe that Hill and Williams will be consistent major-leaguers.
In 79 games in the majors (54 starts) since 2006, Miller has just a 5.84 era and a 15-26 record. He came up through the Detroit Tiger organization and was highly rated, but because he became a major-leaguer at age 21, he had limited development in the minors. He would have benefited from more time in the minors, because he did not develop a consistent delivery and the ability to repeat pitches when needed in big game situations. Now, at age 25, he has yet to make up for lost time and gain consistency with his delivery, something Curt Young is hopeful he can achieve. Miller will also benefit from coming out of the bullpen and not starting, because he will have many player mentors in the ‘pen if he ends up in the bigs.
There are still a lot of question marks for Miller, but he is a 6’7″ lefty that has 5 years of experience in the majors at age 25. The potential to turn his career around is there and the Red Sox believe they can guide him.
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