Brad Miller's 'Focus' at UT
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Sez Grillzy:
MtGrizzly: Miller appears to be much more focused when Taylor is around.
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Dr. D likes the word "focus."
When you're in a Best Buy looking at high-def TV's or, in Dr. D's case, peering through an optometrist's gizmos, the word "focus" means ---- > the state of quality of having or producing clear visual definition.
You focus a camera to bring an object into sharper perception. You focus on the white fog line when some yoyo comes around the corner with his brights on, Lady GaGa just came on the radio, and the thought goes through your head to tip the steering wheel left a bit. You focus on the Shout Box when the local baseball team is stuck in Groundhog Day and your blog is so stale that they're about to convert the title. (To "Sarah Palin's Patio View of Yakustk," obviously. That was an actual blog title, or pretty much was.)
A month or two ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger put out a brand spankin' new 45-minute rant, 'specially made with love for all those gym rats whose dads weren't born yet when he won Mr. Olympia. Great little YouTube. He still got it!
An interviewer axs Arnie an 8-word question about guys texting or chatting on the phone between sets and ... the Oak goes into a 10-minute rant about real lifting. He describes the way he and his partner handed the barbell back and forth for 4 hours at a time and ... "If I werr tuu maike a foowwnn cawl, it vud teek me kompleetly out ov my szone."
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Brad Miller is visibly and obviously more (1) relaxed, (2) joyfully aggressive, and (3) confident now that he is ... benched, in essence. Yeah, what could possibly make more sense.
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| Games | AVG | OBP | SLG | Remark |
| 25 g, to May 3 | .250 | .301 | .382 | Moderately tentative & confused |
| 10 g, since May 6 | .294 | .385 | .765 | Spring Training "death before dishonor" mode |
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This takes Miller to a season-long slash line of .264/.328/.500. He's got a comfortable EYE ratio of 0.44 on the year. He's being doing it at Safeco. He's been doing it from the top of the lineup, in front of our mashers. That's what I like, that (unlike Ackley, Smoak, or what have you) he doesn't disappear the second you put him in "the first inning."
Chris Taylor's presence didn't quite overlap Miller's surge; Miller sat for two days, didn't hit for two or three days, and then mmmBAMMMM! we get the Logo. We ain't talking about a slash line worthy of the logo; we're talking about the player inside the Logo.
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Feed the Beast, Dept.
Miller has 4 doubles and 4 homers in the last 10 days. The homers were all at Safeco Field and all were hammered:
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| Date | Pitcher | Pitch | Remark |
| May 13 | James Shields | 91 fastball, to left-center (!) | Broke up shutout |
| May 16 | Rick Porcello | Dug curve ball out of his shins | |
| May 16 | Rick Porcello | First-pitch offspeed | Porcello destroyed everyone else |
| May 17 | Some knuckleball moron | 41 MPH change curve | Again not fooled |
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QUOTABLE
There's an old saying: "No sense worrying about what you can't control, because if you can't control it, there's no sense worrying about it. And no sense worrying about what you can control because if you can control it, then control it." - Miller
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Log-O-Vision translation: he's got Willie Bloomquist disease -- he just flat likes playing baseball. G-Money gave us the "gym rat" scouting report on draft day.
Moving around the diamond behind Chris Taylor not only doesn't bother him; it probably IS good for him.
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"The guy is a special player," said McClendon. "He is able to move all over the field because he is an athlete. He hasn't disappointed to this point."
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Skip-O-Vision translation: He's what Lou used to call a 'thoroughbred.' Extra talent even by MLB standards. Ball "jumps off" his bat. Runs like an antelope. On a smaller scale, you got the Willie Mays / Mike Trout "five tool player" template.
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I dunno whether Miller is "flashing" his MVP potential or what's going on. But even if it's just a flash, I like eet. This is a frustrating club, but it's also an exciting one.
BABVA,
Dr D