Extraneous

 

Next up in my series of posts catching up on Cubs roster moves made while Wrigley Roster Jenga was mothballed, is a guy who briefly popped up during the most recent campaign, but figures to play a much more prominent role in 2021:  Tyson Miller.

Miller was the quintessential "next man up" for the Cubs in 2020.  Twice, the young pitching prospect was called up as the bonus player for a doubleheader and twice he was immediately sent back to the alternate training site after the completion of said twin bills.  As of this writing, these two cameos are the only tastes of Big League action that Tyson has experienced - he has yet to receive a call-up via "traditional" means.  However, as one of the only competent starting pitching prospects in the apparently rebuilding Cubs organization, Miller figures to get ample opportunity to take the mound in regular ol' nine-inning games quite often in 2021.  In fact, this rookie is almost emblematic of the current state of the club's pitching corps. 

Miller on the bump in his MLB debut.  Image courtesy of Matt Marton/AP & the Chicago Sun Times.

For reference, Tyson Miller was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the fourth round of the amateur draft out of California Baptist University.  A franchise in dire need of pitching depth, Theo and crew selected an eye-popping 18 moundsmen in the first 20 rounds, obviously including Tyson.  Five years later, this franchise still features a dearth of mound talent, up and down the chain, and Mr. Miller is the ONLY one of those arms to have even tasted the Major League scene in Wrigleyville.  Well, except for Thomas Hatch, who was - of course - traded away for a random reliever in David Phelps and is now impressing in Toronto.  Ain't that a tale as old as time?

Scarier yet is the fact that only three men drafted in the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer era have so much as started a game in blue pinstripes - Rob Zastryzny, Duane Underwood, and our friend Tyson Miller.  No offense to those guys, but how's that for talent development?

Not exactly a robust resume when it comes to drafting pitching for this front office.

Here's hoping that Tyson can change that absolutely dismal directory - after all, he showed some flashes of brilliance in his twin reinforcement auditions last season.  Jitters must have got the best of the righty in his maiden outing though, a start against the Cardinals in August, where he walked three in only two innings, allowed a homer and two earned runs along the way.  Furthermore, he tossed in a balk for good measure.  However, in a relief appearance in early September against the same club, Miller harnessed his command and gave no one a free pass and allowed only one hit, though one runner did come around to score, in three frames.  

Once again, it seems nerves may have played a role in his rough debut and one can hardly blame the rook - it was a hotly-contested game against a hated divisional rival in a fierce pennant race.  Talk about being tossed into the fire.  On the plus side, judging by the way things are looking a month out from Spring Training, I don't think Tyson is going to have to worry about a pennant race when he's on the hill in 2021...

Images from each teams' corresponding Twitter feed... *sigh*

At any rate, here's hoping that Tyson Miller bucks all trends and becomes the first Cubs draftee in years to secure a regular turn in the starting rotation.  Seeing as the team has only two proven arms currently slotted on the depth chart, Miller will have a great chance to be the hero that this town needs.  That said, no matter how things go from here, I say welcome to the Show and (most importantly) to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection!

When it came to picking out a card for my CATRC binder, it wasn't a particularly tough decision to fill Mr. Miller's slot.  Despite being a fairly well-touted prospect in a major market with a rabid fanbase, Tyson has only one unique card on the market - the 2016 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects single that leads off this post.  Of course, there are plenty of variations on that single pasteboard, because we're living in the new and improved overproduction era; so, there was still SOME hemming and hawing to be had.  In the end, I opted for the base Chrome card, both because I am a sucker for shiny things and the fact that it was the most readily available to me at the time of his call-up.  I'm a sucker for ease of access too.

And that about covers Tyson Miller, for now.  Next time up on Tony desperately tries to catch-up on roster additions before the 2021 season commences, we'll discuss a utility infielder who first showed up at a time where baseball was the absolute furthest thing from my mind.  Seriously, when this dude was added to the active roster, I basically forgot that America's pastime was even a concept at all!  

Let's just say that I was a tad bit distracted.  As to why my mind was so clouded, I leave that as a mystery for now.

'Til next time!