The importance of Erik Miller's existence might get a little lost.
He was the relief pitcher many in New England found themselves scrambling to familiarize themselves with after the lefty became the return for the player once thought to be the foundation of the Red Sox's future, Marcelo Mayer. And that education took some time after the Aug. 3 acquisition, with the sting and surprise of Mayer's exit still taking priority.
Miller had been good throughout his previous 147 appearances with the Giants. And certainly, one look at the pitcher's Baseball Savant page ("There's a lot of red," noted Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy) suggested this was a skill set that could be part of the Sox's stretch-drive solution. But when you only land with four saves over four seasons, declaring he represented an enormous trade deadline coup.
But now, three weeks into Miller's Red Sox career, it's time to take a beat and realize a reality: He has become one of the best trade deadline acquisitions in all of baseball.
The latest reminder came in the Red Sox's 3-2 win over the Giants Friday, two days before completing a three-game sweep and putting their record at an MLB-best 25-11 at the All-Star break. Miller came into a two-run game in the seventh inning and completely halted the momentum of his former team by pitching a perfect frame, striking out two of his three batters.
With the Red Sox, Miller has appeared in eight games, totaling 8 1/3 innings. He hasn't allowed a single earned run, giving up just five hits and three walks while striking out 14.
While so much focus has been put on the Red Sox's acquisition of Adley Rutschman, or even Curtis Mead, it has been Miller who has been the true find. Even with both Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten sidelined over the last week, the Sox's bullpen has remained one of the key elements in this recent run. Since the trade deadline, no bullpen in the American League has a better ERA (2.66) than the Red Sox, with only the Brewers topping the Sox relievers.
Miller has been an enormous part of that equation.
"It's basically just been just keep doing what you're doing," Miller told WEEI.com when asked what the Red Sox's message has been since the 28-year-old switched teams. "I think they probably saw what I was the last month or so before I came over here of what I was doing, and they basically just said, 'Hey, keep doing that,' because that's about roughly when, four or six weeks ago, I really started to kind of get ahead of guys consistently. You know, the walks cut down, stuff like that. So there wasn't anything that they've said. I think they kind of just were like, "Hey, keep doing what you're doing." As I've mentioned many times, I'm calling my own pitches, and I think that's part of it, too."
For Miller, it has been largely about throwing first-pitch strikes. Since joining the Red Sox, he has managed that feat an otherworldly 73.5 percent of the time. With the Giants? That rate was at 48.2 percent. But it is that dynamic of calling his own pitches that might ultimately have served as the biggest difference-maker.
Since choosing to push his own PitchCom buttons on July 5, Miller has become a different pitcher. He has become one of the best pitchers. Want proof? Since making the switch, he has pitched the exact same number of innings (18 2/3) as San Diego reliever Mason Miller, considered the best in baseball.
San Diego's Miller: Seven hits, one earned run, 33 strikeouts and six walks.
Boston's Miller: Nine hits, no earned runs, 28 strikeouts and five walks.
Enough said.
"I think it's been huge as far as just the conviction behind every pitch I throw is just a lot higher now," said Miller when talking about calling his own pitches. "Not that it wasn't before, but I think you can get caught with with catchers sometimes, maybe younger guys that you know I was dealing with at the Giants who don't exactly know you or your strengths as well, and they might call a pitch, and it's not what you're thinking in your head when that that you know voice comes over the pitch count, but you agree to throw it. And everybody always says, and I agree, you'd rather throw the wrong pitch with conviction than the right pitch without conviction. So I keep preaching. I think there's there's power to pressing that button yourself and taking command of like I'm the one that's calling it.
"This is me on the mound. I think it's kind of helped transform me a little bit from a thrower to being a natural pitcher. You have to take control of reading guys' swings, kind of seeing what their takes are. And before you know, I would kind of just put that in the catcher's hand, and I would just kind of be like a robot. So whatever they called, I would just throw it 99 percent of the time. And now it's forcing me to actually dive into being a pitcher a little bit more. And I don't think (the success) has been a coincidence."
It's working for Miller, and it's certainly working for his new team.
