Shelby Miller, the St. Louis Cardinals' top prospect since he was the 19th pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, made his high-minors debut at AA Springfield on Friday, and he didn't disappoint; the 20-year-old, who features a high-90s fastball that's possibly the best in the Cardinals' organization, struck out five and walked two in the course of allowing one run in the S-Cardinals' 3-1 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks. Miller went six innings, throwing 61 strikes over 89 pitches before giving the ball to Springfield's relievers, who pitched three scoreless innings.
↵Miller was extraordinarily dominant in high-A Palm Beach, where he made his first nine starts of the season; while there he struck out 81 batters and walked 20 in just 53 innings, improving on the strong full-season debut he made at low-A Quad Cities in 2009.
↵Miller is not in the Cardinals' plans for 2011, but if he continues to look as good in AA, pitching in the hitter-friendly Texas League, as he did in A-ball, he's going to make Spring Training 2012 extremely interesting. By then he'll be old enough to celebrate a call-up.
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