The former SF Giants field gives new adjustments to hitters

San Francisco – Erik Miller had not launched his lead for about seven years when he took the mound at Oracle Park for his first intersection enclosure. Given the duration of the dormant land, he had no expectations on how the land would play.

He needed to launch one to create a shock and a fear.

“I said to myself: ‘I don’t know if it will be great. We had the trackman installed at Oracle. I threw the very first. I looked at the analysts. … Their jaws have dropped,” said Miller. “Looking open eyes. Like “saint (explanative), it was legitimate. The movement on this subject was unreal for this ground. As soon as I launched the first, I said to myself: “We could work with something here”. “”

“There are some guys that when you add locations, it takes a long time,” said launcher coach JP Martinez. “Sometimes, when you put land in the hand of a guy, it is clear from the first or the second throw or in the first pen that it is a terrain that they can use. This was the case with its lead.”

Miller, Lone Lefty in the Giants enclosure, brought an old field for his second season. This already gives left -wing strikers a new challenge. He only threw a couple, but with his speed and movement combination, he is already one of the best in the game.

Martinez approached Miller to play with a lead while playing Catch during the offseason. Martinez saw Miller artificially raise his arm slit last season to obtain an additional vertical movement on his fast four -seam ball, so throwing around the lead would help Miller behind his more than fourouts and generate additional vertical movements. The involuntary result was another way of neutralizing left -handers.

“I said:” Hey, if you throw your four seams in the same slot machine as the change, we could probably put a seam with two seams by hand and they will separate “”, recalls Martinez. “The first he ever launched had 20 inches of (horizontal movement). He threw it down for a left -hander, and he came back in the middle. It is a terrain with which you could steal a strike on a left -hander, or finally, it will bother and it will give you more room for your change.”

Monde Miller on Monday withdrawn Yordan Alvarez, one of the best baseball strikers, with a lead that succeeded at 99 MPH and generated almost 20 inches of horizontal movement. Miller is currently on average 18.0 inches of horizontal break on his lead; For the context, Michael Tonkin of the Twins of Minnesota generated the most horizontal break with his 18.8 inch lead. The swinker generates so much movement that Miller aims at his views on the right -handed striker.

“We wanted something that could really dominate left -handers, and it was as if it was the right field,” said Martinez. “Whenever you get a lead of the same side that moves as much and it’s so difficult, it’s going to be a good pitch.”

Addition of the Sam Huff backup receiver: “It’s very heavy, very fast. It’s like a bowling alley that comes to you that you have to hit in one way or another. It is not easy to hit – but it’s easy to catch and I am happy to be able to catch it.”

Lead allows Miller to become more an East-West pitcher capable of covering both sides of the plate. Miller’s Sinker and Changeup, another excellent full -fledged offer, move in left -handed strikers. The cursor, on the other hand, is moving away from the left -handers. The task of hitting Miller is all the more difficult because Miller’s lead “reflects” his cursor, which means that the two heights are almost indistinguishable to come to the plate until they inevitably break in one way or another. He only launched two cursors this year during his four outings, but it was more due to the matches. If Miller wants to go upstairs, he can call on the four runners.

“Last year, I thought it could make me a very trillery, the left -handers knew that I was walking around four seams, the cursors – everything was going to be far from them,” said Miller. “Now, I have something that can put themselves in their hands and force them to honor the inner part of the plate.”

Miller was not afraid to say that he planned to use lead against a certain left -handed striker on the Los Angeles dodgers. Last season, Miller faced Shohei Ohtani five times. He hit it every time. When giants and dodgers inevitably meet, Ohtani will have to face an even more difficult offer.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that there is a guy who plays for dodgers that I will probably launch him a lot this year,” said Miller. “The cat came out of the bag. They know that it is something that I will launch in the leftrs – especially someone like Shohei. It’s exciting. I obviously understand my role. Many times, I’m here to get the best left -handed guy from their team. To have such a big weapon now for left -handers, it’s funny.”

Originally published: April 5, 2025 at 5:16 p.m.