Dodgers rookie off to historic start, continuing franchise tradition of dominant pitchers

The Los Angeles Dodgers (and before then Brooklyn) have been a powerhouse franchise for developing top-tier starting pitcher, from Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, to Orel Hershiser and Clayton Kershaw.

It is still very early in his career, but top prospect Bobby Miller is trying his best to join the ranks of dominant Dodgers starters. He is certainly off to a great start and is putting up numbers no pitcher ever has through his first four starts.

Miller, 24, is already 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA, 23 strikeouts and only 12 hits allowed in 23 innings over his first four starts.

According to MLB.com, he is the first pitcher in major league history to ever post numbers like that over their first four starts in the big leagues. 

Even though Miller has been one of the top prospects in baseball over the past few years, nothing about his minor league performance — and especially this season — indicated that he was going to step right into the majors and begin dominating.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts touched on some theories as to why he has been so good, so fast, including the pitch-calling of Dodgers catcher Will Smith and Miller being especially focused knowing how important these games are. 

From MLB.com:

“He’s performed better than he did in the minor leagues, so it kind of doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Roberts said. “But I do think there’s something to the honed focus, the pitch mixing and knowing that these games really matter — it’s not about development anymore. And I think he’s embraced that.”

He has not exactly been feasting on bottom-feeders in his first four starts, either.

Three of those starts have come against the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, all of which were playoff teams a year ago. The Yankees and Phillies lineups may not be as intimidating as they were last season, but they are still top-tier teams with the potential to cause problems for young pitchers.

Miller mostly dominated all of them.

The Dodgers are such a scary team because they have a bottomless pit of money to use as a budget, making them a contender for any top free agent or trade option on the market, while also maintaining an incredible pipeline of homegrown young talent. It is difficult to compete with that.