Should Seattle Mariners Send Brad Miller to Tacoma?
By Todd Pheifer
Brad Miller continues to struggle at the plate, and eventually the Seattle Mariners may need to make a move. There is such a thing as working through a rough patch, but sometimes that patch turns into an endless desert that seems to have no end.
Miller may be lost in that desert.
This is the frustrating and head-scratching part of sports. Brad Miller had a great spring, hitting .410 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games. Obviously you have to take spring training with a grain of salt, but usually players do not experience this type of drastic drop.
Mr. Miller was given the night off on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, and perhaps it is because his slash line for the year look like this:
.151/.230/.247
Not good. In fact, those numbers are just plain dismal. According to FanGraphs, anything under .290 is labeled with the distinctive term of “awful.”
You understand why manager Lloyd McClendon would be hesitant to send his young shortstop to Triple-A Tacoma. Baseball, much like other sports, is about confidence. This is particularly true with hitting.
Perhaps Miller could re-discover his hitting stroke in the minors, but it could also be a major blow to his self-confidence if he were to be demoted.
Kyle Seager had a poor spring and a horrible start to the regular season but eventually found his groove and is now hitting .250 for the season. McClendon is most likely hoping that Miller will have a similar resurgence.
How long can the Mariners wait for Miller to figure things out? Nick Franklin isn’t hitting much better (.167), and eventually Seattle will need a shortstop that can actually hit.
It may be time to make a move.