One of the shining stars this far in the Guardians’ young season has been 25-year-old Owen Miller. After being traded to the Guardians franchise in the move that sent Mike Clevinger to the Padres, Miller had a successful time in the Minor Leagues. Unfortunately, when he was called up against the Minnesota Twins in May, the success did not continue.
In 60 games and 202 plate appearances with the squad last season, Miller had a very disappointing .204 batting average and .243 on-base percentage. After the underwhelming rookie season, Miller’s expectations drastically decreased. Luckily, it seems as if he has turned everything around in his second year in the Major Leagues.
Throughout 24 games this year, Miller is batting an amazing .333 average to go along with a .400 on-base percentage. The infielder has also hit three home runs and has totaled 13 RBIs in his 81 at-bats. One of Miller’s most significant plate appearances was his 8th inning, game-tying, solo home run to left field on Mothers’ Day against the Blue Jays. The Guardians would go on to win the game, 4-3.
With the young trio of Josè Ramirez, Steven Kwan and Owen Miller, the Guardians have a lot to look forward to in the future. The Guards currently sit at 5th in the entire MLB in OPS, with a .723, and 3rd in the MLB with a team batting average of .255. Standing at 15-15 and 3.5 games back in the AL Central Division, the Guardians have to keep the great batting up. On the other side, the Guardians have really struggled defensively this year. The Guardians rank at 23rd in the MLB with a team ERA of 4.05. In the past pitching has been the team’s strong suit with not-so-great batting holding the team back, but things have changed in Cleveland. Fortunately, with the talent in the bullpen, there should definitely be some improvement in the pitching soon. Can Owen Miller and the Guardians keep the excellent batting up? Time will tell.