Dave Roberts Reluctantly Compares Bobby Miller to Dodgers Great

When you are getting compared to Walker Buehler after just four career starts, it probably means you’re doing something right. But that’s exactly what has happened to Dodgers rookie Bobby Miller after another dominant outing on Saturday. Miller shut down the Philadelphia Phillies offense, throwing six scoreless innings and striking out seven. With the outing, he lowered his ERA to just 0.78 on the season.

His strong start to his career has Dave Roberts being reminded of the way that Buehler came up in the big leagues.

“What we've seen so far, it's a lot of what Walker did,” Roberts said. “That compete-ability to make a pitch when he needed to, and then you layer in the stuff, it's a lot like Walker.”

- Via MLB.com

The emergence of Miller couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dodgers as they’ve dealt with a ton of injuries throughout the season to their rotation. His ability to control his pitches and slow the game down has been impressive and is showing why the team was so high on him. Additionally, over the four starts, he has faced off against a few of the tougher lineups in baseball and still dominated.

Dave Roberts speaks on Bobby Miller’s ability to slow the game down and grind through the tough moments. pic.twitter.com/qGlFZb6tbO
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 10, 2023

However, while the team knew he could be a good starter in the majors, it’s how he has translated his pitches that has allowed for his success. His fastball was always a strength but having his slider and changeup be dominant as well has changed things. Catcher Will Smith talked about the growth Miller has made and why it’s successful.

“His slider’s come a long way; he’s made a couple adjustments since he got here, and it’s been great,” catcher Will Smith said. “Changeup is also a great wipeout pitch. And the curveball, that’s how you slow guys down. He’s put guys away with it, he can land it for strikes. He just mixes all four.”

The comparison to Buehler seems accurate as the injured pitcher showed major composure and poise when he first joined the team back in 2018. Buehler's ability to make "the" pitch is what separated him from others and Miller seems to have that "it" factor as well.

“For me, it’s when things start to speed up, how as a player you can slow it down,” Roberts said. “But as it gets hot, as it starts to get stressed a little bit, do you have the ability to slow the game down? … Harder is not always better. And I think that with young players, they want to just throw harder to kind of make the moment stop and try to overpower guys. But Bobby has shown the ability to kind of temper that a little bit.”

-Roberts on Miller

Miller is here to stay and he’s shown his worth. His teammates have confidence in him that they will win the game when he's on the mound, similar to how they feel when Buehler take the mound.

"Man, he's the guy. Every time he steps on the mound, he's on fire and doing his job. I'm glad he's on our side. I don't want to face him. He's got nasty stuff."

- Outfielder David Peralta on Miller

David Peralta speaks with Kirsten Watson on his timely home run and Bobby Miller’s impressive play. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5cEH6MpeMt
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 10, 2023

If Miller keeps this up, he will be a standard in the rotation for a long time. The Dodgers may have found a future ace in Miller and he should only continue to get better.