World Series 2016: Solving the Andrew Miller puzzle is Cubs' biggest task

Ryan Fagan

World Series 2016: Solving the Andrew Miller puzzle is Cubs' biggest task image

CLEVELAND — Cody Allen is standing in front of his locker about an hour after he finished off Cleveland’s 6-0 win in Game 1 of the World Series with a scoreless ninth inning.

The closer is trying to describe to me what it feels like to watch Andrew Miller’s slider from a hitter's perspective. Allen’s never stood in the box against the 6-foot-7 Miller, not even for fun — because, what fun would that really be? — but he’s stood behind home plate to gain an appreciation. 

The guys in the Cleveland clubhouse talk about the lefty’s slider often, and here’s what they’ve come up with, Allen says. A visual component is necessary for the description.

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“His slider looks like it’s coming in like this …”

Allen moves his right hand, balled up in a fist, straight out in front of his body.

“And it literally looks like somebody comes in a goes like this …”

Like a wrecking ball knocking down a dilapidated building, Allen swings his left hand wide and brings it down to smack his right fist, sending it crashing down toward the floor. 

“It’s like somebody just hits it, and it goes the other way.”

He does it again, swats the right fist with his left hand, a bit harder for effect. 

“It’s nasty.”

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Allen is not wrong. Miller threw two scoreless innings for Cleveland in that Game 1 win. He wasn’t perfect — he gave up two hits and two walks — but he struck out three Chicago hitters and didn’t allow a run. He faced 10 Cubs and threw 46 pitches.

Miller now has 13 career postseason appearances (in 2014, 2015 and this year) and he’s yet to allow a run. In his 22 innings, he’s allowed eight hits, five walks and struck out 34 batters. Those are just crazy numbers. Here’s historical perspective …

Only two pitchers in MLB history have at least 20 postseason innings with a 0.00 ERA, and Miller passed both of those guys — Joe Niekro (20 innings) and John Rocker (20 2/3 innings) — in innings pitched in his Game 1 appearance. So, basically, no pitcher in MLB history has performed better, for longer, than Miller.

At some point, if the Cubs are going to win this World Series, they’ll have to solve the Miller dilemma. 

“We know we’re going to see him again,” Chicago third baseman Kris Bryant told me, “so it was nice for each of us to get an at-bat off him.”

Maybe the familiarity with Miller will help. Maybe. 

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“He’s big. You don’t really see a pitcher that tall,” said Bryant, who drew a walk in his one plate appearance against Miller in Game 1. “Usually guys that big are playing basketball. And he’s lefty, with a lot of moving parts. He looks like he’s right on top of you. It takes some at-bats to get used to that.”

The Cubs don’t really have the luxury of “some” at-bats, though. 

The World Series comes with an inherent sense of urgency. It’s now or never. Learn quickly and adapt, fellas, because a seven-game series can feel shorter than it sounds. 

When facing Miller, there are so many things to consider. 

“One, where to pick up the ball from,” catcher David Ross said. “When a guy’s slinging it like that, on the side of the rubber, you’re trying to find where his arm angle is and seeing the ball and where it needs to start to be a strike, fastballs and sliders. That’s the thing, what you learn the most. Is it going to dip down? Is it going to wrap around you? Does the fastball have good ride in the bottom of the zone? Those are the things you’re trying to pick up and process really fast while you’re in the box.”

Good luck with all that, right? 

Ross caught Miller when the two were teammates with the Red Sox; Miller struck out 22 in his 14 2/3 innings with Ross behind the plate. It’s hard enough to catch Miller with a big ol’ catcher’s mitt, so trying to put the skinny bat on the ball can feel impossible. Early recognition is key. 

“That slider’s really hard to hit,” Ross said. “Really, what you’re trying to do is size up where it needs to start to be a strike. Right? That’s what you’re doing as a hitter.”

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For left-handed hitters, with the movement Miller’s slider has, that means a ball that winds up in the strike zone is going to start on a path that seems destined for the hitter’s hip (which would be painful). Remember Allen’s wrecking-ball visual? Anything that looks like it might be a strike early is going to abruptly dive out of the zone. But it’s hard to just lay off that pitch, because what if it’s not a slider? That’s why early recognition is so important.

“You’re trying to size up that slider and protect against the heater,” Ross said. “I mean, he’s got 96 in the tank, too, so you can’t just sit slider.”

It’s a dilemma few have solved — you saw the historical numbers — but it's the dilemma the Cubs face as they try to win their first World Series since 1908.  

Yikes.

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.