Red Sox with No Cards Pt. 12: Andrew Miller

In this series I take a look at players who played for the Boston Red Sox but, for some reason, never had a card produced of them with the team.

Now that his time with Boston is officially over, it is time to lament the fact that Andrew Miller never made it onto a card in a Red Sox uniform.  Miller was a major part of the Red Sox bullpen for a few years, yet for some reason Topps never picked up on it.

Miller was a former first-round draft pick (6th overall) by the Detroit Tigers and was a major part of the trade with the Marlins that brought Miguel Cabrera to Detroit.  He was traded to Boston after the 2010 season for Dustin Richardson.  In 2011, he was brought up to be a starter, but struggled, going 6-3 but with a 5.54 ERA.  He was then groomed to be a bullpen arm, where he would flourish.

In 2012, Miller was 3-2 with a 3.35 ERA in 53 appearances.  He struck out 51 in 40.1 innings as a LOOGY.  In 2013, Miller was having a strong season, but injuries derailed his season and he only made it into 37 games, but he had a 2.64 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.  2014 was his breakout season as he became a major part of the Red Sox bullpen.  He was 3-5 with a 2.34 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 42.1 innings when he was traded to the Orioles for top prospect Eduardo Rodriguez. 

All told, Miller spent parts of four seasons as a dominant lefty out of Boston's bullpen.  He pitched in 157 games with a 3.79 ERA in 178.1 innings with 218 strikeouts.  Yet he never received a single card to commemorate his time in Boston.  In 2013, Topps Update included cards of Andrew Bailey, Daniel Bard, and Drake Britton.  Bailey pitched in 30 games but was mostly unimpressive.  Britton made it into just 18 games.  Bard pitched in just two games with a 9.00 ERA.  Topps could have easily replaced any of the three, particularly Bard, with Miller.