Erik Miller Has Been Key for the San Francisco Giants Bullpen

After a disappointing 2024 season, the San Francisco Giants went all-in this offseason on finding success for 2025, starting with the hiring of Buster Posey as the organization's President of Baseball Operations. And since Posey took over, the Giants have turned things around in a big way. So much so that they look poised to make a run for a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2021.

A major reason for the Giants' success this season has been the performance of the bullpen, which is ranked No. 1 in ERA with a 2.42 on the season. Even though the bullpen has been solid from top to bottom, it is very hard to think of the bullpen's success without bringing up the early season performance of former Stanford Cardinal left-handed pitcher, Erik Miller.

Miller, who started the season as the only lefty in the Giants' bullpen, has been superb so far this season with the Giants sitting three games out of first place in the National League West. In 23 games so far this season, Miller is 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP, having struck out 15 batters in 19.1 innings of work.

He also reached the 100 career strikeout milestone with two strikeouts in a May 18 win over the Athletics. Miller made his MLB debut with the Giants last season and has now tossed 86.2 innings in his big-league career.

Drafted by the Phillies out of Stanford in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Miller went on to spend three and a half seasons in the Phillies' organization before being traded to the Giants prior to the 2023 campaign.

In 54 minor league appearances in his first season with the organization in 2023, Miller posted a 2.45 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 15 saves across 62.1 innings pitched, eventually leading to him being added to the 40-man roster after the season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Miller then made his MLB debut in 2024 when he made the Giants' Opening Day roster. Since then, he has become a staple for the bullpen and has been utilized as an opener in certain situations. This season, being the only lefty reliever to make the club out of spring training, Miller has taken on a much bigger role.

At Stanford, Miller earned a big role right out of the gate, appearing in 17 games (13 starts) as a freshman where he went 5-2 with a 3.65 ERA. As a sophomore, he started 13 games and compiled a 4-4 record with a 4.07 ERA and 52 strikeouts over about 48 innings before putting together his best season as a junior, which included a 3.15 ERA in 15 starts with 97 strikeouts over 80 innings.

In total, Miller's three seasons on The Farm saw him compile a 17-9 record with a 3.68 ERA in 46 appearances.

The Giants lost a brutal 1-0 game to the San Diego Padres on Monday night, with Logan Webb providing eight shutout innings, and the winning run coming in the top of the tenth when San Diego was able to score the zombie runner on a sac-fly. First pitch for Tuesday and Wednesday will be at 6:45 p.m. (PT) while first pitch for Thursday's finale will be at 12:45 p.m. (PT).