Your 1981 Red Sox Pt. 16: Rick Miller

In this series, I will look at each player who played in 1981, the year I was born. Because, why not?

Rick Miller was a second round draft pick by the Red Sox in the 1969 draft, the same draft that produced Dwight Evans (fifth round).  He made his debut for the Red Sox  just two years later and spent the first seven seasons in Boston, mainly as a platoon outfielder and injury insurance.  He had a few decent seasons, but was never really all that good.  He did have some speed though, which was an element in short supply in Boston in the 1970's.  After the 1977 season, Miller signed with the California Angels, where he played the next three seasons.

In December of 1980, Miller was re-acquired by the Red Sox along with Mark Clear and Carney Lansford in the deal that sent Butch Hobson and fan favorite Rick Burleson to California.  The deal ended up working out well for Boston as Hobson was immediately a non-factor and Burleson's career was derailed by injuries.  Miller was the least impressive part of the return, but he was the team's regular center-fielder in 1981.  

Miller had one of his better seasons in 1981, hitting .291/.349/.377.  He had next to no power, hitting just two home runs and his speed had declined (three stolen bases and caught five times).  Unfortunately, Boston did not really have too many other options at center (Lynn had been traded) and his hitting and defense were decent enough.  The problem was that they kept putting him out there for a couple more years.

Miller stayed with Boston through the end of his career in 1985 despite diminishing returns each season.  He was a regular in 1982, despite a bad year, then was replaced in center by Tony Armas in 1983.  He was a utility outfielder the rest of his career.

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.  

Red Sox Lose 3 out of 4 to O's

Well you can't win them all.  It was a rough weekend for Boston as they lost three games against the Orioles.  Sometimes teams just have your number and I guess Baltimore has been pretty tough against the Red Sox lately.

06/13:  Orioles 5 Red Sox 4 (41-27)
Boston managed to come back from down 3-0 and 4-2 to tie it in the seventh then could not come up with another run in the 13 inning game.  The winning run scored off of Alex Wilson on a bloop single with two outs.  The bullpen was impressive, but the offense sputtered.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

NO CARD

ANDREW MILLER:  2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts.

06/14:  Orioles 2 Red Sox 0 (41-28)

The offense could not come through at all.  Boston only managed three hits, two by Jose Iglesias.  Ryan Dempster pitched very well and deserved better than taking the loss.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JOSE IGLESIAS:  2 for 4, double

06/15:  Red Sox 5 (42-28) Orioles 4

They finally came through in this game with John Lackey pitching very well and getting offensive contributions from Mike Carp and Jonny Gomes.  They nearly gave it up however when Andrew Bailey struggled but they got out of it due to a baserunning gaffe by Alexi Casilla.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JONNY GOMES:  2 for 4, home run, 2 runs, RBI

06/16:  Orioles 6 Red Sox 3 (42-19)

And back to losing.  Jon Lester struggled yet again.  He did not walk anyone and struck out eight but gave up five runs in the losing effort.  

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

WILL MIDDLEBROOKS:  1 for 4, home run, 3 RBIs

Minor Moves: Trever Miller and Joey Gathright

Over the last two days, the Red Sox have made a couple of very minor moves.

Yesterday, the Red Sox picked up left-handed reliever Trever Miller after he was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. Miller had been terrible this year with a 4.19 ERA in 19 innings and a WHIP of 1.914. He had been successful in the past, but he is 38. He could be a warm body in the bullpen.

Today, the Red Sox picked up speedy centerfielder Joey Gathright from an independent league team Yuma Scorpions. Gathright last appeared in the Major Leagues with the Red Sox in 2009. He was on the postseason roster and was mostly utilized as a pinch runner. Gathright has stolen 80 bases in 109 attempts over his career. He will likely be a pinch runner for the Red Sox down the stretch as well, sort of a Dave Roberts-type role.

Red Sox Trade for Andrew Miller

Link.

This might have been big news a couple of years ago when Andrew Miller was still supposed to make something of himself. Miller, 25, was 1-4 with an 8.54 ERA for the Marlins last year, and was pretty bad in the minors too. He had 28 strikeouts in 32.2 innings. He's still young, so it may be too early to call the former first round draft pick (6th overall) a bust, but he has pitched for parts of five seasons without anything close to success.

It cost them Dustin Richardson, who, despite bouts of wildness looked like a pretty decent option to be a left-handed reliever out of the pen next year. He did take a major step backwards last year though after showing considerable promise in 2009.

I do not do not know how to feel about this trade right now, but I guess we will see. The Red Sox did not really give up much and it is possible that at the least, Miller will be the left-handed relief option that Richardson would have been. Miller does have some high upside as a former top draft pick, so he could be salvageable.