Miller brings unique relief perspective to Tribe

CLEVELAND — There he was again Tuesday night at Progressive Field. The 6-foot-7 physical embodiment of what has been a long-standing but infrequently applied assertion of the sabermetric community.

Andrew Miller was summoned by Terry Francona in the seventh inning of a tight game against the White Sox. He proceeded to retire each of the six batters he faced to contribute to the Indians’ 3-1 win over the White Sox, and it took him all of 16 pitches to do it.

Once again, a man whose appearance is dictated not by rigid role but by in-game reality had done what he was acquired to do: Get the big outs, whenever they happen to be needed.

“We’re at a point in time where you don’t have to be recognized as a closer to be an important part of the team,” Miller said. “The goal here is to win games.”

Miller has made seven appearances for the Indians since the July 31 all-in trade with the Yankees that brought him to Cleveland. And though closer Cody Allen admirably agreed to step aside if and when Francona felt Miller was the better closing fit, Miller has made just one of those appearances in the ninth inning.

For the Indians, acquiring Miller has been the pitching equivalent of acquiring a slugger whose only plate appearances come with runners on and the game on the line. Miller has worked in the eighth, the seventh, the sixth and, if he happened to jump into the fray in the fifth one day, would anybody be shocked?

“We try to use him when it makes the most sense,” Francona said.

Makes sense.

And because, in this particular case, sense outweighs sensitivity, there is some argument to be made that Miller has been the Trade Deadline’s biggest pickup to date.

Small sample, sure, but, as of this writing, Miller, in just those seven appearances, has accumulated a higher Win Probability Added (WPA) mark for his new club than any other guy who changed hands in those frantic final 48 hours before the Deadline.

That’s a credit both to Francona’s embrace of the concept of high-leverage relief usage and Miller’s ductile demeanor.

“Tito’s good at what he does,” Miller said. “I’m going to go along with it and do whatever I can to help the …

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