Tyson Miller talks big league debut, fulfilling lifelong dream
Former Shadow Hills baseball standout Tyson Miller made his major league debut on Monday, starting in the second game of a doubleheader for the Chicago Cubs against the rival St. Louis Cardinals.
Miller's final line was two innings, 42 pitches, two earned runs off one hit and three walks. Miller gets to keep the ball from his first big league out, as well as the lineup card from the day, which he plans on framing.
The 25-year-old right hander becomes the second local player to make his big league debut this season, joining Yankees pitcher Brooks Kriske. We had the chance to catch up with Miller on Wednesday following his outing.
"It was definitely easier without any fans there for the nerves, I didn't feel like I had to throw up or anything like that, so that was nice," he said. "After the first pitch, I was just like, 'ok, like, here we go,' kind of thing, and once I was done, just did my shoulder work, put on a pullover, got back out there in the dugout and wanted to enjoy every second of the game for as long as I was there."
Making his big league debut in 2020 meant he would do it in an empty ballpark, but he expects when he does play in front of fans for the first time, it will be like a second debut.
The Cubs were trailing 2-1 when Miller left the game, but ended up winning 5-4. After celebrating and being congratulated by teammates after the game, the magnitude of the moment sunk in.
"I, kind of, just took like 10 minutes of sitting there in the chair, just like, no phone, no one around, just thinking, like, 'holy crap, this actually just happened!' And just reflecting in the moment, reminiscing the last few hours that have gone by and I think when I got back to my hotel, I had, like, over 200-something texts, a bunch of notifications on Twitter, Instagram and everything like that. I just took the next three, four hours thanking everyone for their messages and thanking them for their support," he said.
Miller was drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Cal Baptist University in Riverside.
"I had a little bit of doubts after the first year, but then working through that, stuff started to click," he said. "After getting added to the 40-man, after the Rule 5 Draft, I was like, 'ok, it's a reality, this could happen, it's just a matter of when hopefully and when it happened it was awesome, all the hard work and everything, all the money and stuff my parents have spent traveling, taking me to tournaments as a kid, everything just surrounded by sports, it came down to that one night."
He said the support he's received along the journey means everything.
"I mean, to be up at the top, happiest moment of my life, I think it would've been taken away if it was just me by myself, but having my friends, family, all the fans of Chicago since day one, I mean, it's great I got to debut with the team that drafted me four years ago, I think that's awesome and all the fans have watched me grow. Family, friends, everyone's watched me grow over the time since coming out of the desert, coming out of Cal Baptist, and getting drafted, and just pursuing my dream," he said.
Miller especially wants to thank his high school coach Teg Diffey from Shadow Hills, his pitching coach from the very beginning of his career, Brian Wisler, and his coaches at Cal Baptist, Andrew Brasington and Gary Adcock.
"No matter where you start, it's where you finish and honestly, anyone can make it if they work hard enough and if they really believe they can," said Miller.
