Wade Miley

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Wade Allen Miley

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Wade Miley was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 20th round of the 2005 amateur draft but opted to attend Southeastern Louisiana University instead. He was then chosen by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the supplemental first round of the 2008 amateur draft with the 43rd overall pick and signed by scout Trip Couch. He made his big league debut on August 20, 2011, starting against the Atlanta Braves and giving up 5 earned runs over 4 innings to take the loss. He was a winner in his second start, on August 25th against the Washington Nationals, giving up one run in 6 innings as the D-Backs prevailed, 8-1.

Miley was named the National League's Rookie of the Month in April, 2012, when he went 3-0, 1.29 with 13 strikeouts; he started the season as a long reliever but then took the injured Daniel Hudson's spot in the starting rotation; the only 3 earned runs he gave up that month came in a single relief outing on April 19th. He made the All-Star team as the D-Backs' sole representative and finished the year with an excellent record of 16-11, 3.33 in 32 games (29 starts), having pitched 194 2/3 innings, during which he allowed 193 hits but only 37 walks, and struck out 144 batters. He finished a close second behind the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year Award getting 12 first-place votes and 105 points while Harper received 16 and 112 respectively. He was however named the left-handed pitcher on the 2012 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Miley was not as dominant in 2013, but still pitched well as he made 33 starts and logged 202 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.55, good for an ERA+ of 108. He struck out 147 batters, but his walks jumped from 37 to 66 and his record was only 10-10, reflecting the fact the D-Backs finished exactly at .500 as well. Patrick Corbin overtook him as the team's top starter, but he was injured in spring training in 2014, and as a result Miley got the prestigious assignment of facing Cy Young Award-winner Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball's special opening series played in Sydney, Australia on March 22nd. He pitched pretty well, limiting the Dodgers to 3 hits in 5 innings and striking out 8, but a walk and a wild pitch on third strike to Adrian Gonzalez and a pair of extra-base hits by Scott Van Slyke were enough to lead to three runs in a game the D-Backs and Miley lost, 3-1. It was a prelude to what was to come, as Miley made 33 starts and pitched 201 1/3 innings with an ERA of 4.34, but ended up with record of 8-12 as the D-Backs ended up with the worst record in the majors.

On December 12, 2014, Wade was traded to the Boston Red Sox in return for two young pitchers, Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, making him the third experienced starting pitcher to join the Red Sox in a week, after Justin Masterson and Rick Porcello. He got off to a poor start with his new team in 2015, however, as his ERA stood at 8.62 after four starts, and in two of those he had failed to get out of the 3rd inning. On June 11th, he got into a highly public argument with manager John Farrell in the dugout after he had been taken out of a game against the Baltimore Orioles after only 4 innings. He had given up 9 hits and at least a run in all four innings before being yanked and ended up being charged with a 6-5 loss. A day later, Farrell explained that his pitcher's reaction had been unacceptable and that he had later apologized. He finished the season at 11-11, 4.46 in 32 starts, logging 193 2/3 innings. After the season, he found himself in a logjam of potential starting pitchers after the Sox had signed David Price as a free agent, and on December 27th, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners, along with P Jonathan Aro, in return for relievers Roenis Elias and Carson Smith. The Mariners had a free spot in their starting rotation following the departure of Hisashi Iwakuma via free agency.

Ironically, Iwakuma did sign again with the Mariners in 2016, but Miley still kept his newly-acquired spot in the starting rotation. In 19 starts, he was 7-8, 4.98, middling numbers, but still better than what the Baltimore Orioles had been getting from the back end of their starting rotation behind ace Chris Tillman. Seeing that Miley had pitched well in his last few outings for Seattle, the Orioles acquired him in a trade on July 31st, in return for P Ariel Miranda. However, he did not perform well for his new team, going 2-5, 6.17 in 11 starts, to finish a combined 9-13, 5.37

Pitching for the Orioles in 2017, Miley had the shortest outing of his career on September 14th, lasting only 19 pitches against the New York Yankees. Six of the seven batters he faced reached base, including a three-run homer by Todd Frazier. He allowed 6 runs in a third of an inning and was charged with a 13-5 loss. He spent that whole season in the starting rotation, making 32 starts and ending up at 8-15, 5.61 for the last-place team. He only logged 157 1/3 innings, but still led the American League in walks with 93. He had to re-build his value after that poor season, and the Milwaukee Brewers were the team that gave him a chance to do that, signing him as a free agent on February 16, 2018. He started the year in AA with the Biloxi Shuckers and made his first start in the majors on May 2nd and defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 thanks to a solid six-inning performance, but then had to leave his next start after just three batters and did not return until mid-July. He pitched very well the rest of the way, finishing at 5-2, 2.57 in 16 starts. He made his first career postseason appearances that season, starting Game 3 of the Division Series against the Colorado Rockies and giving the Brewers a good outing with 4 2/3 scoreless innings as they went on to win the game and the series. All postseason, the Brewers had their starting pitchers on a short leash, even resorting to bullpen games a couple of times, as they banked on their superlative relief pitchers to get them to the World Series. Miley thus made three starts in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His outing in Game 2 was a normal one, with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, but in Game 5 he faced just one batter - Cody Bellinger, whom he walked - before giving way to Brandon Woodruff in a calculated ploy to give the Brewers' pitchers the platoon advantage. He then came back to start Game 6 and gave up 2 runs in 4 1/3 innings in what was a more normal outing. Altogether that postseason, he allowed just those two runs in 14 2/3 innings, for an ERA of 1.23.

Following his outstanding bounce-back season, Miley was able to sign a deal with the Houston Astros on February 1, 2019. Backed by an excellent hitting team, he put up some very good numbers, including a 14-6 record with an ERA of 3.98 in 167 1/3 innings. However, he lost steam at the end of the season, as his ERA was a stratospheric 16.68 in 5 September starts. That cost him a job in the postseason rotation and his sole outing in the Astros' run to Game 7 of the World Series came in relief in Game 3 of the Division Series in a 10-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. He gave up 3 runs in 2 2/3 innings and was left off the roster for the next two rounds - even though the Astros did not ahve any other lefthander on their roster. When it came time to find a starter for Game 4 of the World Series against the Washington Nationals - a spot that should normally have been his - it was rookie Jose Urquidy who was given the ball (and who did an excellent job, let it be said). Miley became a free agent again after the season and on December 16th signed a two-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds for $15 million. The Reds were looking for him to do exactly what he had done for the Astros , i.e. give them some decent innings from the back of the starting rotation and let the offense do the heavy lifting.

His first season with the Reds in 2020 was a downer. Not only was it cut short by the Coronavirus pandemic, but when he did get to pitch, he failed to earn a single win as he went 0-3, 5.65 in 6 games, pitching just 14 1/3 innings and being left off the postseason roster. Things were different in 2021, however, as on May 7th, he pitched what was already the fourth official no-hitter of the young season and came only two days after John Means of the Baltimore Orioles had pulled off the feat. He improved to 4-2, 2.00 with the 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians in an interleague game. He allowed just one walk while another batter reached on two errors on the same play by 2B Nick Senzel. Both plays occured in the 6th inning, placing Amed Rosario on second base with one out, after which Cesar Hernandez drew a two-out walk, but with no further damage as he got Jordan Luplow to fly out to end the inning. He was in danger of having his great effort go for naught, as the game was scoreless until his teammates scored three times in the top of the 9th; it would have been the first time the tiebreaker rule had been invoked with a no-hitter on the line, but the outburst of runs prevented that awkward situation. The start of the game had also been delayed by rain by 93 minutes, but it obviously did not affect Wade.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Sarah Langs et al.: "8 unbelievable stats, facts from Miley's no-no", mlb.com, May 8, 2021. [1]
  • Mark Sheldon: "Miley pitches MLB's 2nd no-no THIS WEEK!", mlb.com, May 8, 2021. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

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