Dodgers pitcher Bobby Miller on mend from liner to | College News

PHOENIX — The mere sight of a pitcher getting hit within the head by a line drive would make Bobby Miller so squeamish he couldn’t bear to watch replays of such an incident, however the Dodgers right-hander had a completely different, considerably masochistic, response to the 106-mph laser that hit him within the brow on Thursday.

“I’ve probably watched it a hundred times, at least,” Miller, talking earlier than Saturday morning’s exercise, mentioned of the Michael Busch shot that knocked him out of the exhibition opener in opposition to the Chicago Cubs.

“Whenever I’ve seen a video of a pitcher getting hit in the head, I’ve never been able to watch it. I’m always like, ‘Get that out of my face.’ I always feared that. But now that it’s happened, I’ve been able to watch it. Scary moment, but it’s all good. I’m all right.”

Miller, who had by no means been hit within the head by a line drive, was ready to stroll off the sphere underneath his own energy. He went into concussion protocol and was nonetheless feeling signs — complications, fatigue, some drowsiness and problem sleeping — on Saturday.

“I’ve woken up a lot of times during the night — I can’t really stop thinking about what happened,” mentioned Miller, who’s making an attempt to bounce back from a brutal 2024 season by which he went 2-4 with an 8.52 ERA in 13 begins and was sidelined for a number of months by a shoulder harm. “I’m just trying to get past that. …

“But each day is getting better. That’s always been one of my biggest fears, taking a line drive to the head. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It kind of knocked me down, but I was able to walk off all right. Hopefully, I’ll get back to action soon.”

Miller mentioned that on most comebackers, “it almost looks like slow-motion to you,” however Busch’s line drive got here off his bat so sizzling that “I just kind of blinked, and I was on the ground,” Miller mentioned. “I tried to get out of the way or block it with my glove, but I wasn’t quick enough.”

Miller suffered no damaged bones, simply a bruise. His imaginative and prescient is ok, and scans of his mind have been regular. As scary because the incident seemed, it may have been a lot worse.

“I’m just glad it didn’t get me in the temple or the back of the head,” Miller mentioned. “It got me right in the front. God is great. He was watching me right there.”

Miller mentioned he has no plans to discuss to different pitchers concerning the potential mental hurdles to overcome after absorbing such a blow.

“Right now, I’m not nervous to go back out there,” Miller mentioned. “When that moment comes, we’ll see what happens. All I’m thinking about is getting healthy and getting back on the field soon, because that’s what I really want.”

Short hops

Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star who was unable to pitch whereas recovering from elbow surgical procedure final season, accomplished his third bullpen exercise of the spring on Saturday, throwing 25 pitches and mixing in a few cut-fastballs to go along with his four-seamers and two-seamers. Manager Dave Roberts mentioned Ohtani, who gained National League most dear participant honors along with his 54-homer, 130-RBI, 59-stolen-base season in 2024, would make his exhibition debut as a hitter late subsequent week. …

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who missed the ultimate six weeks of the 2024 common season and all of the postseason as a result of of an elbow harm, will make his exhibition debut on Monday in opposition to the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear. Left-hander Blake Snell, the two-time Cy Young Award winner who signed a five-year, $182-million deal this winter, will make his Dodgers exhibition debut on Tuesday in opposition to the Seattle Mariners at Camelback Ranch. Roki Sasaki will pitch later subsequent week, however Roberts isn’t sure whether or not it should are available an exhibition recreation or going through hitters in a simulated recreation.