A Cleveland Indians Tale of Two Owens

For the Cleveland Indians organization, calling up 24-year-old Owen Miller was a no-brainer. Some may argue they took too long to do it, but regardless, he got the call and made his debut on May 23rd at Progressive Field.

In case you missed it, it didn’t go well. In his debut Miller went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

His family made the trip — and his younger brother even skipped his high school graduation for the occasion. 

While it may not have exactly been the debut many were hoping for, no one thought twice about it. All it did was signify Miller’s start to his MLB career.

Flash forward two plus weeks, and not much has changed. Through 14 games, Miller has 45 plate appearances, five hits, two walks, and 21 strikeouts. This has him slashing at .116/.156/.140 on the year while seeing 3.84 pitches per plate appearance.

Prior to his debut, Miller was absolutely dominating in Triple-A for the Columbus Clippers.

This season, through 16 games and 70 plate appearances, Miller had 26 hits, five walks, and 14 strikeouts. He was slashing at .406//.457/.609 while seeing 3.81 pitches per plate appearance.

So, what is the organization to do? The last three games the team has played Miller has come off the bench. 

He has one walk and two strikeouts in those three at-bats, and his June numbers, while only a few games in, have slid down to .091/.167/.091.

It’s evident to anyone that Miller needs to head back to Columbus to not only find his swing again but also build his confidence once more.

Leaving him up here to continually fail in a game of failures isn’t going to help him or the team while he’s just not making contact with the ball.

One note to make is that Miller’s teammate Bobby Bradley was recalled during the Baltimore series last weekend and through three games and 10 at-bats has four hits, one homerun, and three RBI.

He’s slashing at .400/.400/.900 as he’s getting worked into the lineup. That’s been a nice quick punch for a team that needs all the offensive help they can get.

The club currently sits at second place in the Central with a 32-27 record and four games back behind the White Sox.

Even as they continue to search for some relief while dealing with five on the injured list, they wouldn’t miss Miller if he had the chance to put some work in once more at the lower level. This isn’t a goodbye, it’s a see you soon.