“Put the sun back up in the sky and give us one more day of summer.” The famous “For The Love of The Game” quote currently applies to current 36-year-old Brewers starting pitcher Wade Miley. In a rotation that features Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta, it’s very easy for Miley to be overlooked. However, in his second act with Milwaukee and while defying father time, Miley has been making a bigger impact than expected. He is a big reason why the Brew Crew currently has one of the top five best records in all of baseball.
A Minor Signing Becomes the Brewers’ Most Important Deal
After not making any moves for much of free agency this offseason, the Brewers decided to reunite with a familiar face. Wade Miley was the Brewers’ first signing of 2023. Milwaukee signed the 36-year-old left-hander to a one-year, $4.5 million contract with a mutual option. The Brewers signed Miley to add rotation depth and to be a stable presence in case injuries occurred. While this move hardly raised eyebrows, this is looking like the most important move of Milwaukee’s offseason.
A Folk Hero in 2018
As you may recall, Miley was a Brewer in 2018 and became somewhat of a folk hero. That season, he emerged as the Brewers second best pitcher behind Jhoulys Chacin. In 16 starts, Miley would go 5-2 with a career-low ERA of 2.57 and a FIP of 3.95. Miley continued his surprising performance into the 2018 postseason; he helped get the Brewers within one game of a World Series appearance. Despite not registering a decision in the playoffs, Miley was lights out. In four starts, he posted an ERA of 1.80 with nine strikeouts.
A Solid Pitcher When Healthy
Since leaving Milwaukee, Miley has been a solid pitcher wherever he’s gone. Since 2019, Miley has put together a record of 31-19, an ERA of 3.71, and 305 strikeouts. He even threw a no-hitter in 2021 with the Reds (still wondering why the Reds let him go). However, he’s been hampered by injuries over the years. He missed time during the 2018, 2020, and 2022 seasons. In 2022, he was only able to make nine starts for the Cubs due to nagging elbow and shoulder issues.
A Strong Start to This Season
So far this season, Miley seems to have put his injury issues behind him. Despite a rotation that features Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta, Wade Miley has looked like the best pitcher on the staff. This season, Miley is 3-1 with a sparkling ERA of 1.96, 17 strikeouts, and a FIP of 3.66. The key to Miley’s hot start is he has been able to limit walks. So far this season, he has only issued four free passes.
Miley’s fastball, cutter, and change-up combination have given him the ability to make hitters uncomfortable. It has also allowed him to limit hard contact this season. He is only giving up an impressive exit velocity of just 86.6 MPH putting him in the 79th percentile. Something else Wade Miley has been able to do is produce ground balls efficiently while also decreasing his line drive rate. So far in 2023, Miley is only allowing a line drive rate of 13 percent. Miley has a career line drive rate of 25.3 percent. This is something to monitor as the season progresses. If Miley can continue to decrease the amount of line drive given up while still maintaining an efficient ground ball rate, he could author a very successful year for the crew.
What was first seen as a minor acquisition has become the Brewers’ best move of this past offseason. While it’s still early, Wade Miley has so far been able to turn back the clock and become one of Milwaukee’s better-starting pitchers. If he can stay healthy and continue to defy father time, the Brewers starting rotation will be that much more lethal.
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