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@@@ Sometimes it's easy to forget that Shelby Miller is just 23 years old and has made only 60 big-league starts.Obviously, Miller is still evolving. And it looks like there's been an important development in the process: the addition of a legitimate secondary pitch by Shelby.That's something we'd been yelping about this year; there was simply no way for Miller to reach his potential if he continued down the single track of being a one-dimensional, fastball-firing pitcher. His predictable pitching pattern gave hitters a major advantage in their confrontations. And Miller's performance was declining.聽Miller has made three starts since catcher Yadier Molina returned to his familiar post behind the plate. As Molina sat on the disabled list for seven weeks, he had a lot of time to think. I'll go ahead and presume that a new pitching plan for Miller was part of Yadi's <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/michaelkorssonline.php> michael kors handbags</a> list of things to do.Molina has said as much; after one recent start the catcher said he wanted Miller to start throwing more curve balls. That was the new mission. Consider it done. And Miller has been much better because of it.聽In the three starts with Molina overseeing an altered pitch-selection strategy, Miller has gone 7 innings each time, allowing two earned runs over the 21 innings -- and with a scant .71 walks/hits per inning. That's three consecutive starts of enhanced quality, efficiency and consistency by <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/gucciusaonlineoutlet.php>gucci outlet</a> Miller.聽And it isn't an accident.聽According to the pitching data tracked by Brooks Baseball, here's the breakdown of Miller's two most essential pitches in his last three starts under the Molina program...聽Four-seam fastballs: 57 percent.聽Curves: 38.5 percent.Before the last three starts?Miller was throwing 70 percent fastballs, and 17 percent curves.聽Miller has also mixed in a sinker, but that's been overstated. This has been all about the significantly increased emphasis on the curve.聽This is a dramatic change. And it's working. Hitters haven't had much success handling either pitch, the heat or the hook.聽Looking at the data, here's one thing that jumped out at me: Miller is throwing the curve to batters when the hitters聽are ahead in the count. That's a major switch in tactics. Before, if a RH batter got ahead of Miller he could almost always expect Shelby to come in with the fastball.聽This is no longer true.聽Over the last three starts, here's the percentage of curveballs thrown by Miller when the hitters are ahead <a href=http://www.museosangennaro.com/Public/wdluk.php>Louboutin Shoes Outilet</a> in the count. The second number is the percentage of curves thrown with the batter ahead in the count before Molina and Miller changed tactics:聽RH batters .... 56 percent ... before: 11 percent. 聽LH batters ... 33 percent ... before: 9 percent.聽Obviously, this is something new. And exciting. And it's taken Miller's pitching to a new level. That curve is keeping hitters off balance. They must be confused, muttering "WHERE THE HECK IS THE FASTBALL?" as they jog back to the dugout.Over this mini stretch, batters are hitting .120 against the Miller curve, and .136 vs. the four-seam fastball. His strikeout/walk ratio still needs some work, but it's getting better.聽Miller is talented. He just needed to diversify his arsenal. Obviously we can expect him to stay on this newer, more promising course. He'll have to make more adjustments once the hitters figure out that he's much more likely to use the curve in hitter-friendly counts. But that's baseball. A game of adjusting, growing, and trying to stay one step ahead of the competition.聽Oh, yeah. One more thing: this Molina fellow is pretty good.聽Thanks for reading ...聽-Bernie