CLEVELAND _ The Indians had been without Andrew Miller for the entirety of their 21-game winning streak entering Thursday night, but it didn't mean they were without an effective lefty in the bullpen.
Miller was activated off the 10-day disabled list on Thursday. He was placed there on Aug. 22, just before the streak started, with patellar tendonitis in his right knee, an injury he re-aggravated.
Miller had already come back once from that injury this season, only to have to leave his second appearance. Miller said on Thursday he feel's stronger now than he did the first time he returned to the roster.
"I feel like I'm more prepared to take on a heavier load," Miller said. "I think that's important. I think last time we didn't try to really monitor that kind of stuff and it was going to be tough. So hopefully it was a blessing in disguise that now they've got it more taken care of and understand it better and I'll be more prepared for a heavier work load."
The first time, Miller returned when he reached a point at which the club felt it could monitor his knee while pitching in games. This time, their hope is that they have it completely figured out prior to his activation.
"I don't think we ever felt he was 100 percent last time," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "That didn't work. This time he seems [to be] in a much better place. The trainers feel differently."
The plan is for Miller to pitch on a cautious schedule for a stretch, in order to ensure he's healthy for the postseason, when his value as an elite reliever is highest.
The Indians have made it clear that, like in last year's postseason, Miller will be used often. But, it might not be exactly to the same degree as it was in 2016, when he tossed 19 1/3 innings for an Indians pitching staff that was depleted due to injuries.
"He threw a lot of pitches," Francona said. "I don't even know that I'd do that again. That bothered me at times. It wasn't the goal to have him actually throw that much. ... We'd love for him to be a huge weapon. I don't think that it entails throwing that many pitches."
In Miller's absence, and along with the season-ending injury to Boone Logan, Tyler Olson has provided the Indians with a reliable left-hander, somewhat quietly. Entering Thursday, Olson had yet to give up an earned run, tossing 13 2/3 scoreless and striking out 15 hitters innings across 21 appearances. According to the club, Olson's 21 consecutive appearances without a run allowed to begin a season is tied for the seventh-longest stretch since 1913.
The key for Olson, who came to camp as a non-roster invitee and impressed the Indians' coaching staff but didn't make the Opening Day roster, has actually been throwing his fastball right down the middle of the plate. But, in effect, that's the team trying to take advantage of the movement he has on that pitch.
This spring, he was aiming for the corners, with his stuff darting off the plate. The Indians had him work on throwing more-so down the middle, but allowing the movement on his pitches to carry them to the corners.
"If he throws his fastball to the opposite arm side, it cuts, if he throws it arm side, it runs," pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "He can spin the ball. And he was more pitching towards the corners in the past. When you have that type of movement and that kind of stuff, you throw the ball right down the middle and it'll take it to the corners."
Olson has always trusted his stuff. He also had to trust that throwing his fastball down the middle and simply allowing it to move out of the center of the zone is what took time.
"It was about trusting it wouldn't be squared up by hitters," Olson said. "That was the conversation we had in spring training, where I was throwing to a corner and then it was moving off the plate rather than just throwing and trusting that it'll go to a corner."
The Indians certainly welcomed Miller back with open arms. Olson, in the mean time, has made the most of the opportunity and might have given the club an additional left-handed option.
