When Arizona's Adam Eaton went down with an elbow injury in spring training, Shelby Miller became my pick for NL Rookie of the Year for two reasons. First, and most obvious, he had a job coming out of spring training. Playing time is kind of a big deal when handing out awards.
It is safe to say that after just one month, Miller has exceeded even the most optimistic projections. He had a streak of four straight starts when he struck out at least six hitters. He has thrown six innings or more in four of his six starts.
While I don't expect Miller to have a 3.5-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio all season, his stuff is good enough to average at least one punchout per inning, and he stays in the zone enough to force hitters to put the ball in play.
The Cardinals have a rash of hard-throwing right-handers in the high levels of the minors or recently promoted to the big leagues (Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez), but Miller is going to be the best of the bunch.
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