Tigers take UNC LHSP first
posted in draft |Detroit does not seem to fear the tough signing. Last year, the Tigers took highly-highly touted North Carolinian in high school center fielder Cameron Maybin in the first round after he fell. This year, the Tigers took University of North Carolina starting pitcher Andrew Miller (UNC profile), who was projected to go as the first overall pick. The 2006 ACC pitcher of the year looks like a pretty solid pick to me. He’s got about a thousand other honors listed on his profile.
Here’s Jason Beck’s story:
Miller has been widely regarded as the best combination of ability and polish in what was regarded as a pitcher-heavy draft. Both MLB.com and Baseball America rated the 21-year-old left-hander as the top prospect available, a lofty status that had basically remained unchanged since the college season began. He’s a power lefty in both stature — he’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds — and stuff.
With a mid-90s fastball that occasionally tops out even higher, along with a quality slider, Miller began his junior season by going 10-0 before finally taking his first loss last month. He went 12-2 with a 2.26 ERA in 15 starts, striking out 108 batters over 103 2/3 innings and holding opponents to a .217 batting average.
I don’t follow the draft much, but I started searching for some links.
Baseball America listed Miller No. 1 in their most recent ranking, as Beck said.
Tar Heels ace pitched off his slider Saturday and has done nothing to alter his status as this draft’s top talent.
Meet Andrew Miller through ESPN motion.
I’m sure more info will be available. It looks like the Tigers continue to draft like winners, but of course, I must give the caution everyone else gives: there’s no sure thing in the amateur draft.
According to a Baseball America link found by DetroitTigersWeblog, Miller was projected to be a Major League starter in 2007. Here’s a copy of that scouting report via ESPN.
At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, Miller has an ideal frame with a clean delivery and easy arm action. His fastball registers consistently in the 93-95 mph range and can touch the upper 90s. Miller also has a major league offering with a mid-80s slider with a sharp bite.
He can miss his spots at times and tends to be a bit wild in the strike zone, yet such criticism is nothing more than nitpicking.
Jon Paul Morosi of the Free Press reports Miller may want 8 figures, which is higher than Justin Verlander.
The Baseball Times spent a weekend with Miller and his teammate, Daniel Bard.
Like Bard, he came out throwing fastballs, but unlike Bard, they were all two-seamers: 91, 92, 91, 88, 92, 90, 87. His command was off as well, hitting the second batter of the game and walking Antonelli to put a couple of men on. So Miller busted out a top-down slider that is just pretty much unfair. Coming from his arm slot, it bores in on right-handed hitters while having the bottom fall out, and ends up forcing an awful lot of fisted foul balls. He wasn’t using it as a knockout pitch, but it clearly could be.
… Miller worked in a few four-seam fastballs, hitting 93 a couple times, and 95 once, but mainly he stuck to the two-seam variety, getting a ton of choppers up the middle. While the box score won’t show it, he was a groundball machine. There was a lot of weak contact. The first hit he allowed was a slow roller that went about 40 feet up the line and died for an RBI infield single.
… Miller clearly knew that Wake’s hitters weren’t going to be able to touch him, and he just focused on inducing contact and letting them get themselves out. While the DIPS theory has gained momentum at the major league level, it’s clearly not true in college. You watch guys like Andrew Miller knock the bat out of a kid’s hands and you know that he had everything to do with the weak ground ball.
There’s more. I’d feel bad copying it all, but I wanted to get a feel about his style posted for you.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports also wrote about Miller’s power stuff.
Etched into the right-wrist decoration are the words DR. DESTROY. Now, to Miller’s knowledge, Dr. Destroy does not exist – not in comic books, not in sci-fi novels, not even in the Secretary of Defense’s office. So before Miller’s name is called in Tuesday’s Major League Baseball amateur draft (1 p.m. Eastern) – likely as the No. 1 overall pick to Kansas City and possibly down further if his signing-bonus demands scare off teams – may we christen a freshly minted millionaire with a fresh nickname.
…it wasn’t until that summer in the Cape Cod League that Miller unleashed a true Dr. Destroy moment.
It was a foggy night. Miller started the game for the Chatham A’s and struck out the side in the first inning. He did the same in the second inning. Seven, eight and nine went down by strikeout. And in the fourth inning, Miller continued the impossible.
Twelve batters, 12 strikeouts.
But who’s going to watch UNC in the Super Regionals this weekend?