Right-hander Bobby Miller will have two goals in mind when he takes the mound for the Dodgers against the Angels in a battle of Los Angeles-area teams Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif.
First, pitch well enough to beat the Angels. Second, pitch well enough to help convince Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and his staff that he will warrant consideration to be on the playoff roster.
The Dodgers (84-55) had high hopes for Miller after his rookie season last year when he went 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 22 starts, with 119 strikeouts in 124 1/3 innings.
This season has been rough, with Miller standing 2-3 with a 7.25 ERA in just 10 starts. He had to deal with shoulder inflammation that cost him two months early in the season and also a demotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City that lasted five weeks over most of July and the first half of August.
In three starts since his return, he’s 1-1 with a 5.74 ERA. The lone victory came in his most recent start last Thursday against the Orioles when he allowed three runs on two hits and three walks in five innings of the 6-3 game.
Miller, though, threw four scoreless innings on one hit before he hit a snag in the fifth. A walk, a hit batter and a three-run homer tarnished his outing to some degree.
“It was four and two-thirds innings of really good pitching and then just one bad pitch,” Miller said. “Seems to be the story of my last few outings. It’s just one bad pitch that I look back on, and unfortunately, it’s over the fence. But you know, one day, one day soon, it’ll fall.”
Wednesday’s start will be the first for Miller in his career against the Angels.
Right-hander Griffin Canning (4-12, 5.19 ERA) will make his 27th start (28th appearance) for the Angels, winless in his past four starts. He is 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers.
Though the Angels (57-81) are not playing for a playoff spot, many players have something to prove, and not just the young players. Left fielder Taylor Ward has had an up-and-down season, coming off a year-ending injury in 2023. He hit his 20th homer of the season Tuesday in the Angels’ 6-2, 10-inning loss to the Dodgers.
Ward suffered multiple facial fractures when hit by a pitch in the face on July 29, 2023, costing him the rest of the season. He seemed to bounce back fine this season until he was hit in the head by a pitch on June 30. Though he didn’t miss any time and was uninjured, he slumped in July, hitting just .174 with two homers and a .498 OPS for the month.
“Getting hit in the head this year again, that set me back for sure,” Ward said. “But I’ve definitely moved past that.”
In August, Ward again hit just two homers, but put up a .283 average and a .762 OPS. He said the improvement partly is a result of journaling key aspects of his swing.
“Just going to cement these key things that I believe are going to help me for next year,” Ward said.