Scottsdale, AZ — Sitting in the dugout at Scottsdale Stadium, Detroit Tigers’ Double-A lefty Jake Miller is staring off towards the mountains as he recaps his first visit to Arizona.
“I’ve always wanted to come here,” Miller said. “It’s been such a cool experience. It’s beautiful out here.”
During a typical offseason, Miller will take about two weeks off from throwing, work his way back to light throwing, and gradually increase from there. With this offseason having a different look through Miller’s invitation to Arizona, Miller is using it as an opportunity to build off of what he started during the regular season. That includes the navigation of the many unique situations the Fall League is known to present.
“I’ve gotten to play catch with new pitchers,” Miller said. “I love playing catch with my Tigers’ teammates, but sometimes we’re not in the same group, so I’ll be able to play catch with a player from a different team and see the stuff he brings. After we play catch, we’ll talk about things we see from each other, talk about what they’re working on, and what I’m working on, pick each other’s brains, and give each other tips.”
The Fall League format also includes expedited introductions between pitchers and catchers.
“Before the game you go, ‘Hey, I’m Jake Miller, I’ll be your pitcher today,'” Miller said. “‘Here are the pitches I throw, here are the locations I want to work.’ And you find an idea with your catcher, and it’s pretty much your best stuff against the hitter’s best stuff, and just having fun competing at that.”
The 23-year-old admittedly hasn’t had the strongest fall campaign. But instead of looking at the challenges as a punch in the face, he’s found a way to change his perspective to a goal of making sure he throws the first punch. And this has come in the way of restructuring his current arsenal.
In addition to his four-seam fastball, circle change, and gyro slider, Miller most recently added a sweeper. And he has utilized his time out west to continuing building confidence in the way he mixes the four offerings. Miller generally throws his gyro slider about six to eight miles per hour harder and tighter than his sweeper, while his sweeper ideally displays more horizontal movement.
For Jake Miller, repetition breeds confidence.
“I think it’s understanding that it’s going to be uncomfortable at first, but the only way to get better is to work through being uncomfortable,” Miller said. “I mean, I’m messing around with a movement on the rubber out here. Moving more to the first base side, and went through some growing pains with that at first. Just sticking with it and the more you continue to work on it, muscle memory or just getting used to it.”
While Miller hasn’t successfully produced a campaign to write home about this fall, he’s choosing to focus on the time he’s been given to build up a refreshed repertoire going into the 2025 season. Development takes time, and Miller will be the first to tell you, it isn’t always pretty.
“It’s about not getting into that mentality of, ‘Oh, it may not work at first, so I’m going to beat myself up over it,'” Miller said. “It’s just about pushing through it. It will be uncomfortable at first, but the more you do it, it could pay off at the end.”
Rogelio Castillo