Miller faces club that sparked his turnaround

CLEVELAND — It was part of Andrew Miller’s routine. Near the end of his spring mound workouts, the big lefty would move into the stretch and fire a handful of pitches with a slide step.

During this particular bullpen session in the spring of 2012, former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was keeping a watchful eye on Miller. The lanky left-hander had worked hard on a windup that included a high leg kick, but there was something about the way he fired a few pitches when abandoning that approach.

• Shop Indians postseason gear

“What was that?” Valentine asked Miller. “Why don’t you do that every time?”

Miller told the tale on Sunday with a slight grin on his face. He knows Red Sox fans do not look back on the one-season Valentine Era fondly, but said he has to give credit to the former manager. Valentine’s enthusiasm about Miller moving to the stretch on a full-time basis helped convince the reliever to go that route.

Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 6 8 p.m. BOS @ CLE TBS Gm 2 Oct. 7 4:30 p.m. BOS @ CLE TBS Gm 3 Oct. 9 4 p.m. CLE @ BOS TBS *Gm 4 Oct. 10 TBD CLE @ BOS TBS *Gm 5 Oct. 12 TBD BOS @ CLE TBS *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Red Sox | Indians • Complete Postseason coverage

Four years later, and now with the Indians, Miller is not only one of the most overpowering relievers in the game, but one of the most dominant in baseball history. There is a growing list of batters who have crumpled to the dirt while trying to make contact with his slider. The 6-foot-7 southpaw can make any hitter look overmatched, and he has given Tribe manager Terry Francona a versatile weapon for high-leverage situations.

Francona will surely employ his weapon plenty in the American League Division Series against Boston, beginning Thursday with Game 1 at 8 p.m. ET on TBS. When Francona managed Boston, he remembers getting Miller in 2011 and thinking that the lefty — much like Valentine believed — was capable of unlocking his talent by simplifying things on the mound.

“I didn’t know he’d be this good,” Francona said with a laugh. “I mean, shoot, I thought that there was a guy in there, like everybody else. I wasn’t the only person. Everybody saw it.”

Fresh start in Boston

The spotlight had been on Miller since he entered professional baseball.

He was the sixth overall pick in the 2006 Draft by the Tigers, who traded him in December 2007 to the Marlins in the blockbuster deal that brought slugger Miguel Cabrera to Detroit. A project or not, Miller was constantly dealing with the …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com