Smokies' Miller flirts with perfection

Tyson Miller has hit the books hard this year. He spent time in the "lab" during Spring Training. He's been tested by more patient hitters in the Southern League.
And he's passed.
The Cubs' No. 19 prospect took a perfect game into the seventh inning of Double-A Tennessee's 3-2 win over Jackson on Wednesday night at Smokies Stadium. He recorded a career-high nine strikeouts and allowed two hits and a walk over 6 1/3 scoreless frames to lower his ERA to 1.07. Through 25 1/3 frames in five starts this year, he has not given up a home run.

"I've done a lot more looking into scouting reports," Miller said. "Especially [this being my] first year being at Double-A, some of the batters I know, some I don't, some I faced in the Carolina League."
The strong start to the season has to be just what the Cubs wanted to see from their 2016 fourth-round pick, who broke out last year with Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach. Over 127 innings, Miller led the league with 126 strikeouts, a 1.09 WHIP and .220 opponents' batting average.
Analytics helped. This spring, Miller has watched frame-by-frame videos of himself. He's seen the moment the ball leaves his hand and what a different grip can do to his spin rate. He's analyzed pitch sequencing and how best to tunnel -- that is, make various pitches appear the same to the hitter's eye.
In Double-A, Miller said, numbers have become an even larger part of how he prepares. Before each start, he, the catchers, pitching coach Ron Villone and one of the team's hitting coordinators meet to view film of opponents' swings and browse data -- a lot of data. It's a much more "individualized" approach than Miller was used to at the Minors' lower levels.
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"We look at their percentage of first-pitch swinging and first-pitch swinging with runners in scoring positions," Miller said. "If it's high, then we know we could work him with off-speed stuff. And then we go over where they swing when they chase. Like, where I can attack with fastballs? If we need to mix up. Where he's hitting percentage wise and average-wise off of off-speed. All that stuff. We have tons.
"It's a lot of information for a 20-minute session, but now I'm starting to get the hang of it."
The reports this time produced a plan to pitch inside to a lineup that featured five lefties. An eight-pitch first inning was followed by back-to-back four-pitch strikeouts of top D-backs prospectJazz Chisholm and 15th-ranked Drew Ellis that got him through the second. Then the right-hander put it on cruise control.
Miller got a flyout and two punchouts in the third and a groundout and two more whiffs in the fourth. The middle of Jackson's lineup could not touch him in the fifth, and he'd thrown 53 of 73 pitches for strikes through six perfect innings.
As Miller returned to the dugout in the middle of the sixth, he wondered if someone would pinch-hit for him. The score was close. Wait, was it? He had to check the scoreboard: 1-0, Smokies.
He no longer wondered when he saw the other zeros.
"So that's when it kind of registered," Miller said of his bid for perfection. "I was like, 'Oh, crap, all right. This is pretty cool.'"

The Generals finally got to the 23-year-old on their next batter. Jeffrey Baez led off the seventh with a single that fell in front of left fielder Charcer Burks and D-backs No. 17 prospect Pavin Smith followed with an infield hit. Jamie Westbrook flied to right, but fourth-ranked Daulton Varsho walked to load the bases and Smokies manager Jimmy Gonzalez went to his bullpen.
Wyatt Short escaped the jam by striking out Chisholm -- who was ejected after the at-bat -- and getting Ellis to pop to catcher Jhonny Pereda on the next pitch. He also worked a clean eighth, although the Generals tied the game at 1-1 when Varsho homered off Craig Brooks with two outs in the ninth.
Jackson added a run in the 10th, but Roberto Caro knocked a two-run walk-off single against Kevin Ginkel (1-2) in the bottom of the inning to give Tennessee its second straight win.