Shelby Miller Throws 96 MPH in AAA Appearance, Cubs Still Being ‘Little Safer’ with Rehab
The Cubs signed 35-year-old righty Shelby Miller to a two-year, $2.5 million deal back in February with the knowledge that they’d be paying him to rehab his elbow for the first year. Dr. Keith Meister performed surgery to repair a torn right UCL and flexor tendon on October 13 of last year, the second time Miller has had his ligament reconstructed. The first came in 2017 with the Diamondbacks and forced him to miss around 14 months, so coming back as quickly as he has makes me suspect this latest procedure was of the internal brace variety.
Either way, it’s impressive that Miller is back on the mound in competitive action less than 10 months removed from surgery. It’s even more impressive that his fastball was sitting 95 mph and touching slightly higher, which would put him right in line with the best velocity of his career. That’s very promising for a guy who had been working high-leverage innings for the Diamondbacks and Brewers last season.
That is a good problem for a Cubs team that expects to get injured relievers Daniel Palencia, Hoby Milner, and Hunter Harvey back soon. Palencia and Milner were pitching alongside Miller with the I-Cubs this week and should be activated soon. Then they’ve got Ben Brown and Justin Steele working back, both of whom figure to slot into relief roles since they probably can’t get stretched out at this point.
Because of all that, not to mention the severity of the injury, the Cubs are remaining cautious with Miller.
“I think Shelby’s rehab and return to play at this point has gone as well as it possibly could,” Craig Counsell told reporters prior to Sunday’s game in Kansas City. “And he’s done a heck of a job, and the staff in Arizona has done a heck of a job with Shelby. So we’ve got to a place that we probably didn’t anticipate getting to in March when we signed him.
“Having said that, we got steps to go here still, so I wouldn’t consider this a, ‘Yeah, Shelby Miller’s back.’ He’s coming back from a serious injury, his rehab’s gonna be a little longer, and we have to be a little safer with his rehab as well. So everything so far has been — and this is a credit to Shelby, he’s worked his tail off. I mean, he’s been maybe a model for how you return from this injury. So we’re all rooting for him and we’ll see what happens.”
Wouldn’t it be wild if, after all the injury issues they’ve faced all season, the Cubs end up getting a meaningful contribution from a guy who came back from elbow reconstruction much sooner than expected? Feels a little poetic in a way. Counsell will go from recycling immediate DFA candidates to figuring out which former ace starters to deploy in the 7th inning.
