Today's News , Players to Watch

Miller's Time

05/23/2008

BY Aaron Gleeman

LATEST FANTASY BASEBALL HEADLINES

Brewers' Gagne has rotator-cuff tendinitis

Mets place Alou on 15-day disabled list

Nationals' Kearns to miss 3-4 weeks

Yanks begin process of making Joba a starter

Padres' Young has nose fractured by liner

Colon beats Royals in Red Sox debut

Tigers activate Willis, place him in bullpen

As a huge fan of ground-ball pitchers who miss bats Andrew Miller is right up my alley, so it's nice to see him turning things around this month after a brutal April. Traded to the Marlins this winter as part of the big Miguel Cabrera-Dontrelle Willis deal, Miller posted an ugly 9.12 ERA and 18-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 25.2 innings spread over six April outings. Florida showed some patience with the 23-year-old southpaw and he's been excellent in May.After holding Arizona scoreless for seven innings Thursday while racking up nine strikeouts, Miller is now 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 26-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio this month. He's always worked with overpowering raw ! stuff that produces lots of strikeouts and ground balls, but consistently throwing strikes used to be a problem. However, Miller hasn't walked more than three batters in a start since April 12 and has a solid 44-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 50.2 innings overall.As a 6-foot-6 lefty with a heavy low-90s fastball and high-70s slider combination, Miller is perhaps one of the most overlooked young pitchers in baseball despite being the No. 6 overall pick in the 2006 draft. If he can continue to show decent control, he's capable of becoming the Marlins' ace and can reel off a string of 175-strikeout seasons with ERAs in the mid-3.00s. He's not quite there yet, but it looks like the transition is beginning to take place.While Miller makes Marlins fans forget all about Willis, here are some other notes from around baseball .* With Adam Everett, Nick Punto, and Matt Tolbert all on the disabled list, Alexi Casilla suddenly has a chance for regular playing time in Minnesota. Casilla hasn't hit much since advancing past Double-A, batting just .257/.344/.316 in 129 games at Triple-A and a measly .227/.270/.280 in 72 games with the Twins. However, he's looked good at the plate since being called back up last week and has enough speed to be a fantasy asset regardless of his bat.A 5-foot-9, 160-pound bundle of raw energy who resembles Rafael Furcal with the glove and Luis Castillo on amphetamines with the bat, Casilla swiped 54! bases per 600 plate appearances in the minors, including 29 steals in 532 trips to the plate at Triple-A. He hasn't run quite as often in the majors, in large part because he's only been on base 27 percent of the time, but is 11-for-12 when he does take off and the Twins will no doubt encourage him to run plenty.* Clayton Kershaw was pulled from his Thursday start at Double-A after just one inning, leading to speculation that the 20-year-old southpaw may be on the verge of joining the Dodgers. MLB.com reported Thursday night that Kershaw could be a rotation option as soon as Saturday, which is somewhat surprising given that the Dodgers opted against calling him up when they needed a spot starter less than two weeks ago.Kershaw is without question one of the elite pitching prospects in baseball and has dominated at Double-A despite turning 20 in March, posting! a 2.28 ERA, 47-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and .202 oppone! nt's bat ting average over 43.1 innings. However, he'd be far from a sure thing to thrive in the majors immediately. Along with an amazing 264 strikeouts he's also handed out 87 walks over 203 career innings, and has recorded more than 18 outs in just one start this season.* After experiencing shoulder soreness in a mop-up outing Tuesday, the Brewers announced Thursday that Eric Gagne has been shut down indefinitely with rotator-cuff tendinitis. He received a cortisone shot and has been told to cease throwing for at least three days, seemingly making it likely that he'll land on the disabled list. With Gagne out Salomon Torres is once again the favorite for saves, although manager Ned Yost's bullpen management has been unpredictable.* It took a while, but Ryan Howard finally got his batting average above .200 by going 3-for-5 with a homer Thursday. Howard's batting average had been below the Mendoza Line following all but 10 of his first 48 games this season, including every day since April 21. Now he's all the way up to .207 and has quietly put together a big two-week stretch, going 17-for-56 (.304) with seven homers and 15 RBIs over the past 14 games.* Eric Byrnes was highly unlikely to repeat last season's career-high 50 steals to begin with, but lingering hamstring problems have made it impossible. Manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday that Byrnes is at significantly less than full strength right now and his lack of action on the bases agrees with that assessment. Byrnes hasn't stolen a base since May 7, has just one steal since April 20, and sat ou! t Thursday's game altogether.* Just when it looked l! ike Nate McLouth was slowing down by going just 9-for-46 (.198) over the past dozen games, he came up with a 4-for-4 night Thursday, scoring three runs, stealing his fifth base of the season, and raising his batting average back above .300. McLouth is now hitting .314 with 12 homers, 29 total extra-base hits, five steals, 36 RBIs, 41 runs, and a 25-to-21 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 46 games, putting him on pace for a monstrous .300-40-120-140 season.AL Quick Hits: As expected, Joe Borowski (triceps) is scheduled to come off the disabled list and resume closing Friday . Ian Kennnedy may have held onto his rotation spot by limiting the Orioles to one run over six innings in a no-decision! Thursday . C.J. Wilson shook off recent struggles to pick up his ninth save of the season with a perfect 10th inning Thursday . Clay Buchholz (fingernail) is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Sunday at Triple-A, but with Bartolo Colon now in the rotation the Red Sox don't figure to rush him back . Gary Sheffield collected three hits Thursday to push his batting average above .200, but hasn't homered since April 29 or driven in a run since May 10 . Victor Martinez left Thursday's game with a fing! er injury, but manager Eric Wedge said afterward that he may b! e able t o play Friday . Daily Dose favorite Aaron Laffey turned in another strong start Thursday, tossing seven innings of two-run ball, but took a tough-luck loss versus Mark Buehrle . Due to a strained calf, Chien-Ming Wang's next start has been pushed back from Saturday to Sunday.NL Quick Hits: Clarifying his statements about retirement from earlier this week, Pedro Martinez said Thursday that he plans to play "at least two or three more seasons" . Ken Griffey Jr. had been stuck on 597 career homers sin! ce April 23, but went deep Thursday for the first time in 90 at-bats . While throwing to live hitters Thursday, John Smoltz experimented with a lower arm slot that he hopes will alleviate some pressure from his sore shoulder . General manager Jim Bowden indicated Wednesday that Jesus Flores may continue to start after Paul Lo Duca (hand) returns from the disabled list next month . After hitting just .268/.386/.357 in 16 games as a No. 3 hitter, Hanley Ramirez moved back to the leadoff spot Thursday . Ryan Doumit (t! humb) said Wednesday that he's hoping to return within two wee! ks and " will be back sooner than anyone thinks" . Jacque Jones is expected to join the Marlins prior to Friday's game and should see regular playing time against right-handers . Roy Oswalt made his scheduled start Thursday despite leaving his last outing with a hip injury, but allowed five runs on 11 hits versus the Phillies.