JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -The question for Florida Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley was the sort that gets batted around a sports bar.
Which of the team’s talented young starting pitchers will finish with the most career victories?
After Wiley mulled it over, the first name he mentioned was the Florida starter with the most modest resume: erratic left-hander Andrew Miller.
“He’s working on a new delivery,” Wiley said. “Once he locks in with that, he’s got as much topside as anybody.”
Florida’s rotation includes Ricky Nolasco, a 15-game winner last year; Anibal Sanchez, who threw a no-hitter as a rookie; Josh Johnson, who went 7-1 last year after returning from elbow surgery; and Chris Volstad, who had a 2.88 ERA in 15 games as a rookie in 2008. None is older than 26.
But the pitcher with the most potential might be the 23-year-old Miller, a former first-round draft pick acquired a year ago in the trade that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit.
f North Carolina, the hard-throwing Miller failed to live up to the hype in his first season with the Marlins. He went 6-10 with a 5.87 ERA and ended the season in the bullpen.
“It was frustrating, to say the least,” Miller said Sunday, the second day of spring training. “I’ve got to go out and perform better than I did last year, that’s for sure. I’ve got plenty to improve on, but I think we’re making some good adjustments that will help me do that.”
The 6-foot-6 Miller begins camp with a new motion designed to improve his command and reduce pounding on his right knee, which has been prone of bouts of tendinitis the past two years. Soreness sent him to the disabled list for six weeks last season.
Miller said the change in his delivery is somewhere between a tweak and an overhaul, and he conceded he has yet to work out the kinks.
“I can do it, but it’s not 100 percent comfortable,” he said. “It’s a process, but it’s coming along pretty good.”
The Marlins decided the change was needed after watching Miller struggle last year. He walked 56 and gave up 120 hits in 107 1-3 innings.
`I need to change.’ We came up with a plan, and he’s happy with it so far.”
The new motion reduces Miller’s hip swivel at the start, giving him a more direct route to the plate. He has yet to face a hitter, but manager Fredi Gonzalez said he sees a more consistent delivery.
“The last two bullpens were outstanding,” Gonzalez said after Sunday’s drills. “He has been working extremely hard on that, and you can tell a big difference. He repeats it. If he can do that, there’s no question the arm is there.
“The consistency is what got him in trouble last year, and it was his delivery. If he can repeat it and keep it that simple, we’ve got a heck of a pitcher on our hands.”
Miller showed signs of fulfilling his potential last year. During a three-game stretch in May, he allowed only two earned runs and 12 hits in 19 innings. He gave up just one run in consecutive seven-inning outings in June.
“For all the bad, there was some good,” Miller said. “I know it’s in there. It’s a question of how I can do that every time, as opposed to a couple of games at a time.”
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