Spotted Greg Miller working one-on-one with Rick Honeycutt on a side mound early this morning. They were working to hone a slight mechanical adjustment that Greg made last season, when he was battling those well-documented control problems that caused him to walk 46 batters in 28 2/3 innings at Las Vegas before he was demoted to Jacksonville.
``Everything for me is about staying on my front leg and being more direct to the plate,'' Miller said. ``Last year at times, I got kind of directional with my lower body.''
Asked if that was a reason for the wildness, Miller said it was partly to blame.
``Part of it, too, I'm willing to admit, was that I just got really frustrated with it and tried to muscle my way through,'' he said.
Although Miller appeared to right himself by cutting down on the walks after initially struggling at Jacksonville, he says he didn't really put the issue behind him until the season ended.
``To tell you the truth, I didn't really get out of it all year,'' he said. ``I cut down on the walks, but I think a lot of that was just relaxing. In Triple-A, I felt a lot of pressure from myself because I didn't want to let myself or my teammates down. Mentally, I don't think I really put it behind me until the offseason, when I was able to step away and think back on what happened.''
Assuming the wildness is really behind him, Miller has a chance to be part of the Dodgers bullpen sometime this season.