Bobby Miller's brief return to Dodgers could be the start of a 2027 redemption arc

I remember exactly what I felt watching Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Bobby Miller in 2023. A 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame that looked like it was built in a lab specifically to intimidate hitters, and a fastball he threw with a fearlessness you almost never see from a first-year player.

He went 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA that year, attacking hitters like a kid with no idea what pressure was supposed to feel like, just competing, pitch after pitch, like the moment could never get too big for him.

I loved the storyline underneath it too — Will Smith behind the plate, another Louisville guy, calling the pitches for a player who'd been his teammate in college. Watching that battery work together, I was convinced I was watching the beginning of one of the next great starting pitchers in the sport.

Then the injuries came, and they never really let go. A shoulder problem in 2024 turned a dazzling six-inning, 11-strikeout season debut into a lost year, his ERA ballooning to 8.52 across 13 games. The 2025 season was even worse — two appearances, a rough one, and a demotion to a bullpen role in the minors that felt like the organization quietly moving on from the idea of Bobby Miller the starter.

By his own admission, there was a stretch earlier this year where he wasn't sure he'd ever pitch in the majors again. And it's moments like these that remind me to share perspective to the fans of just how fragile this game is for players. We are talking about a former top prospect in baseball, who can throw a baseball 100 mph, having question marks about his career before turning 30.

Bobby Miller's return to the mound gives the Dodgers something to dream on

That's exactly what made this weekend mean something. Miller came out of the bullpen Sunday against the Washington Nationals, in a tied game, in the middle of a rare rainstorm at Dodger Stadium, and worked three innings to pick up his first win since August 2024. It wasn't clean by any means, and I think I even sensed a little relief after his first punch-out. He allowed a leadoff triple, hit a batter with the bases loaded, and by his own account, didn't feel his legs under him in that first inning.

But after that rocky start, he didn't allow another run, struck out two, and generated five whiffs with a fastball sitting around 97 mph. For a few pitches in there, I saw the same guy from 2023. The same explosiveness out of the hand, the timing down the slope, and the same conviction attacking the zone instead of pitching around it.

And then there are the other moments, the ones where he still looks a step behind himself, a little more careful than free. I think that's the real story here, and it's one I recognize from my own career. Early success in this league, especially in a market like Los Angeles, puts a weight on a young pitcher's shoulders that doesn't show up in a box score.

When injuries or struggles follow that kind of start, the weight compounds. It can creep into a pitcher's timing, into mechanics, I can even see it in a guy's look and demeanor on the mound — and sometimes that tension is exactly what turns nagging issues into recurring ones.

So here's what I'm hoping for heading into 2027: the version of Bobby Miller who lets the fastball eat free and easy at 98 to 100 mph with a real swing-and-miss slider and an above average curveball (that he used a ton in his outing), competing freely instead of carefully. I want to see the same conviction that had him pounding the strike zone early in counts at a 64.6% first-pitch strike rate in 2023 and a big reason hitters could never sit back and wait him out.

Manager Dave Roberts put it best after Sunday's win, and it's the part of this story I keep coming back to. Asked about everything Miller had fought through to get back on that mound, Roberts acknowledged the ups and downs and the reality of the situation, but also complimented the person.

That's the intangible piece that goes along with everything physical he's still working to get back. As a Dodgers fan, and as someone who's felt exactly the kind of weight I think he's still carrying, I want to see him put it all together next year. It would be one of the best, homegrown stories this organization could ask for.

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