Second Surgery For L.A.旧 Miller By John Manuel February 9, 2005 http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050209miller.html In 2003, the top lefthanders in the minor leagues were Cole Hamels, Scott Kazmir and a late-bloomer in the Dodgers system, 18-year-old Greg Miller. While Hamels and Kazmir had lengthy amateur resumes, Miller was a relative unknown who was throwing in the mid-80s late in his high school career. A tweak here, some better conditioning there, and Miller started pumping mid-90s lightning while throwing three other pitches for strikes. He was still 18 in September 2003 when Hideo Nomo got hurt, and the Dodgers needed a replacement in the big league rotation. They chose Edwin Jackson, an equally precocious righthander, but nearly tabbed Miller to take the mound. Instead, Miller went to Arizona to see Jackson beat Randy Johnson to get his first big league win and finished the year in Double-A. “I didn’t feel fatigued at all,” Miller says. “I was settling in at Double-A, I thought, and was throwing well. Through the whole year my arm felt great, from April through Sept. 20.” Miller remembers Sept. 20 because it’s when throwing started to hurt. He was throwing in the bullpen back in Jacksonville when his biceps tightened up. “I had never felt like that before,” he says. “I couldn’t extend my arm.” Soon, he had an MRI, and as he says, “that started it.” Miller hasn’t pitched in a game since, but he hopes he might be seeing the end of it thanks to a second surgery in late January. Miller’s first operation was arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder in March 2004. The Dodgers expected him back by June or July last season. Instead, he missed the whole year. Miller would progress well with his throwing program, long tossing to build up his arm strength, but when he got back on a mound, inflammation and soreness returned in the shoulder. Finally, the Dodgers and Miller found the problem during an MRI exam. The tip of his shoulder blade was shaped in such a way that it was causing the inflammation by rubbing up against tissue in the shoulder. Surgery was performed to shave down the bone, hopefully precluding further inflammation and giving Miller a chance to get back on the mound pain-free. The procedure technically is known as acromioplasty, the surgical reshaping of the acromion (the tip of the shoulder blade). “He’s going to be fine,” Dodgers farm director Terry Collins said. “I know Greg’s real frustrated with it, and it was a disappointment that they had to go back in there. But now we know there was a reason he had the discomfort. We’re going to make some correction to make him more comfortable in his delivery.” No one knows more about his shoulder than Miller, who seems to have filled his down time by learning what has been wrong with him. He sounds like Dodgers surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe as he rattles off his diagnosis, throwing out phrases such as “type 3 acromion” and “too much external rotation” with alacrity. He spent the year rehabbing in Vero Beach, Fla., and watched plenty of the high Class A affiliate’s games. “I really couldn’t tell you what I did with my day,” he says. “I have 12 hours to find a way to burn.” Now, he’s ready to get down to business throwing. He has begun his rehab at Physiotherapy Associates in Tempe, Ariz., and will only start throwing after Dr. Jobe examines his arm in early March. Understandably, the 2002 supplemental first-round pick doesn’t want to put a timetable on his return, considering how well timetables worked for his return in 2004 that never happened. When he does return to the mound, Collins pledges the Dodgers will monitor his pitch counts, workload and mechanics more closely than they did in ’ 03, when he threw 143 innings. “There were some things that have been done that we need to recalculate a bit,” Collins said. “We want to make sure he doesn’t pull off and get hyperextended (in his delivery); his front side will come off a little bit fast at times. We want to make sure he stays together a little bit more.” It’s too early to tell if his electric stuff will return to his pre-injury levels. His season won’t start on time. But barring more setbacks, Miller will pitch in 2005. “It’s definitely been a frustrating process,” says Miller, who blames the structure of his shoulder blade for the injury rather than any overuse by the organization. “But I’m just excited about this surgery, hopefully my last surgery. I definitely have goals for this year, but with all I’ve gone through the last year or so, I’m going to keep those goals to myself.” Contributing: Alan Matthews. -- If you're not have fun in baseball, you miss the point of everything. --

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