All Sport Report

With so many new, young pitchers starting for the Detroit Tigers this year, we have to ask ourselves, where have some of the pitchers gone? While pitchers like Andrew Tata and Jair Jurrjens have been called up from places like Toledo and Erie, one Detroit starter was actually re-assigned on what is being called a rehab assignment. Andrew Miller, the 22 year old, who was a first round draft pick in 2006, was sent to play for Detroit’s AAA team, the Toledo Mud Hens.

The Mud Hens who are having a stellar season, may not have wanted the pitcher to come their way, because with him, he has brought the pitching problems that have plagued the Tigers the entire second half of this season immediately preceding the All-Star Game. Miller pitched for the Mud Hens last night (August 15) for the first time against Richmond. Luckily, the Mud Hens have a good enough team to handle pitching trouble, because without it, Andrew Miller would have bombed in his debut.

Despite giving up five runs in one inning, the Mud Hens still managed to beat the Braves by a score of 8-7. In the troublesome inning by the former Detroit pitcher, Miller walked three and gave up four hits. You would have to imagine the Mud Hens were sweating after this tumultuous round. Miller pitched for three innings, unable to pitch more than 75 pitches in the game. He pitched at least 39 pitches in the first inning, though eventually he did seem to settle down and find his groove.

On August 4, Miller was put on the disabled list. He had strained his hamstring during a pitch and had to be removed in the middle of the game. In order to rehabilitate the young pitcher, he was placed with the Mud Hens until he is up to par and able to join the Tigers in Detroit again. The Mud Hens were prepared to pull Andrew out whenever they needed to due to his injury so replacing him after three innings wasn’t that big of a deal.

The pitcher for the Braves, Trey Hodges, pitched nearly as many as Miller did in the first inning. The Mud Hens really made him work though they didn’t really get things started until the 2nd inning when they started down the path towards catching up and eventually surpassing the Bravest to win. The Mud Hens, who play in the International League, are not only at the top of the Western Division, they are also number one in the entire league with a record of 72-53. The Mud Hens meet up with the Braves again tonight at 7, when their big league brothers, the Detroit Tigers, take on the New York Yankees.

Toledo Mud Hens, AAA, Baseball, International League, Andrew Miller, Detroit Tigers