Watch live: Indians and Angels meet in Free Game of the Day
When the Cleveland Indians acquired Andrew Miller from the New York Yankees at the trade deadline, it was expected he’d become the team’s regular closer. Instead, manager Terry Francona has elected to employ his new bullpen ace as a weapon, rather than to define him in a singular role. And so far the results have been interesting.
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Miller is expected to be available again on Sunday when the Indians host the Los Angeles Angels in the final game of a four-game weekend series. You’ll have a chance to see what role Francona decides Miller will fit, as this will be featured as the MLB Free Game of the Day on Yahoo Sports. You can stream the game at Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home beginning at 1:10 p.m. ET.
It’s long been argued that managers should focus more on utilizing their best relievers in the highest leverage situations. That essentially means situations when the opponents have the best chance to change the game, be it through opportunity or lineup construction.
Most are reluctant, though the reasons vary. Some managers don’t see the upside because it’s difficult to predict when the opponent’s best chance will come. Others know their relievers prefer having a set role for their own mental preparation. And perhaps some even value the save stat a little too highly.
Not Francona. Or at least not since he’s had Miller added to his arsenal.
In his five appearances with Cleveland, Miller has earned just one save chance. Ironically, that came at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 5 and was successfully converted. Miller was also called upon once in mop up duty, but that was simply to get his feet wet in his Indians debut. In two other outings, Miller was used to bridge gaps from one inning to the next.
On Aug. 4, Francona used Miller to record the final out in the sixth inning and kept him in for the entire seventh inning. At the time he called Miller, Cleveland led 4-2. They went on to win 9-2, which meant no save chance anyway. That proved to be good use of Miller, as he ensured the Twins wouldn’t rally in the middle innings.
On Aug. 9, Miller was used to protect a 3-0 lead at Washington. He entered in the seventh inning, retiring two batters, and then stayed on in the eighth to handle the core of Washington’s lineup. On that night, he allowed a home run to Jayson Werth, but recovered to retire Daniel Murphy. Cleveland went on to win 3-1.
On Saturday, he was used in a more conventional set up role, handling the eighth inning with a 5-1 lead. Again though, he got a tough part of the Angels order, retiring Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout to finish the frame.
It should be no surprise now that this is the way Francona will deploy Miller moving forward. He hasn’t complained about the usage either, at least not publicly. So it seems everyone is on the same page. That’s good news for the Indians, and bad news for whomever might stand in their way down the stretch.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
