Southwestern Smoke
Miller lights up crowds, radar guns
| By Evan Ren |
| June 3, 2009 |
ABILENE, Texas—Even to the uninitiated, it's obvious that something about this March day is different.
The crowds at the Wylie High baseball field are typically healthy, but today people fill every available seat in the bleachers. More than 15 minutes remain before a scheduled game with Brownwood High, yet nearly every head is fixed in the same direction: toward the bullpen. There, several strangers are milling about. Many of them are carrying clipboards and radar guns, trained on a tall righthander wearing a Brownwood High uniform.
He is Shelby Miller, a 6-foot-4, 207-pound senior who is drawing as much attention as any baseball prospect that central Texas has produced in some time.
With one pitch, any mystery about why the strangers are here is answered. A fastball with a noticeable tailing action rips into the catcher's mitt, creating a loud pop, audible throughout the park.
The inevitable question "How fast is he throwing?" echoes in various forms throughout the crowd, along with the occasional "Wow," or in some Texas dialects, "Whoa!"
The reading: 98 mph.
That number eventually dropped to 97 by the time Miller took the mound for a 5-3 win over Wylie, which saw him carry a no-hitter into the fifth inning and strike out 14 batters. It could be considered a subpar performance for a teen who threw three no-hitters during his junior year, but it made a lasting impression nonetheless.
Miller has the sort of stuff which most high school pitchers can only dream of. At age 18, he already has more velocity than most major leaguers, coupled with a 12-6 curveball and a seldom-needed changeup.
"After his freshman season, we knew he was going to be a special talent," Brownwood coach Scotty Nichols said. "There aren't too many high school teams fortunate enough to have someone like this around."
Overpowering Beginning
Throwing in the high 80s as a sophomore, Miller burst onto the scene a year later with a mid-90s fastball and three no-hitters, including a five-inning perfect game that saw him fan 14 of the 15 batters he faced.
Finishing his junior campaign with an 8-2, 1.11 record, Miller struck out 113 batters in 63 innings of work. He also hit .413 with nine homers and 32 RBIs, helping him to take his district MVP award and Class 4-A all-state honors.
The improvement hasn't stopped.
As a senior, Miller has been even more overpowering, consistently flirting with triple-digit velocity. As the season wound down he was 6-1, 2.18, and had whiffed 90 batters in 45 innings against 25 walks.
"Last year, the only major league scouts I remember being at one of my games were the Rangers and the Royals," said Miller, who tossed his fourth career no-hitter in April against Graham High. "But this year, there have been about 20 scouts at each game.
"I try not to think about it too much, but the scouting has definitely progressed a lot."
And so have the comparisons. Raised in the heart of the same state that has produced righthanded fireballers such as Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Josh Beckett, Miller is showing the same sort of potential.
Baseball America rates him as the top high school righthander in the country, making him a virtual lock for the first round of the draft. He is committed to Texas A&M but is unlikely to end up there with the kind of bonus money he'll see as a first-round selection.
"It's been an honor for me, being noticed as one of the top righthanders in the nation, and being mentioned with all of those great pitchers," Miller said. "It lets me know that I'm doing the right things emotionally and physically."
Sky's The Limit
But just how good will he be?
If he continues to fill out his frame and add velocity, Miller will eclipse the 100 mph mark by the time he is 19. But there are other considerations which make him an appealing prospect to scouts, beginning with an unceasing work ethic and dedication to improvement.
"I thank God every day," Miller said. "I know the opportunity will be there for me if I take care of business. Right now, I'm just trying to keep my priorities straight and play high school baseball."
A consistent visitor to the weight room, much of Miller's improvement has its roots in the offseason workouts he used to become a standout wide receiver and punter with the Brownwood football team.
Laziness is not in Miller's vocabulary—a fact not lost on those who are paid to assess him.
"You're talking about a tremendous arm-strength guy, but (Miller) has unbelievable upside overall," said a prominent scout who covers Texas. "He's got a dynamite fastball, which has been clocked up to 97-98 mph, and he's got the size you're looking for in a big league pitcher.
"He's got an outstanding competitive nature, to go with a hammer curveball, and an average changeup."
Miller's mechanical soundness is another plus, giving him uncommon fluidity and balance while delivering a pitch. While many young prospects waste energy with lot of unnecessary arm movement, Miller seems remarkably relaxed considering the velocity he produces.
"My mechanics, my speed, and everything else should only get better," Miller said. "If I keep working, I really think there's a good chance of me playing on television in a few years."
Miller would not be the first Brownwood High alum to do so. The school has produced a pair of major league pitchers in lefthanders Jim Morris and Jerry Don Gleaton.
In the meantime, Millers says the option of attending Texas A&M hasn't been eliminated, if his position in the draft or the subsequent signing bonus somehow doesn't pan out.
"I think Shelby being mentioned with all these guys is a fair assessment, even though he's still got a long way to go," Nichols said. "But when Shelby gets with a good pitching coach in a good organization, there's no doubt he can make a name for himself.
"No matter which path he takes, whether its college or pro baseball, he's got a great future ahead of him."
Evan Ren is a sportswriterfor the Abilene Reporter-News.