PHOENIX — The mere sight of a pitcher getting hit in the head by a line drive would make Bobby Miller so squeamish he couldn’t bear to watch replays of such an incident, but the Dodgers right-hander had a different, somewhat masochistic, reaction to the 106-mph laser that hit him in the forehead on Thursday.
“I’ve probably watched it a hundred times, at least,” Miller, speaking before Saturday morning’s workout, said of the Michael Busch shot that knocked him out of the exhibition opener against 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 never been hit in the head by a line drive, was able to walk off the field under his own power. He went into concussion protocol and was still feeling symptoms — headaches, fatigue, some drowsiness and difficulty sleeping — on Saturday.
“I’ve woken up a lot of times during the night — I can’t really stop thinking about what happened,” said Miller, who is trying to bounce back from a brutal 2024 season in which he went 2-4 with an 8.52 ERA in 13 starts and was sidelined for several months by a shoulder injury. “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 said that on most comebackers, “it almost looks like slow-motion to you,” but Busch’s line drive came off his bat so hot that “I just kind of blinked, and I was on the ground,” Miller said. “I tried to get out of the way or block it with my glove, but I wasn’t quick enough.”
Miller suffered no broken bones, just a bruise. His vision is fine, and scans of his brain were normal. As scary as the incident looked, it could have been a lot worse.
“I’m just glad it didn’t get me in the temple or the back of the head,” Miller said. “It got me right in the front. God is great. He was watching me right there.”
Miller said he has no plans to talk to other pitchers about the potential mental hurdles to overcome after absorbing such a blow.
“Right now, I’m not nervous to go back out there,” Miller said. “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.”
Saturday slugfest
Reserve catcher Hunter Feduccia had three hits, including a two-run single in the first inning and a three-run homer to right-center field in the fourth, and Max Muncy hit a three-run homer to left center in the second inning of Saturday’s 11-10 exhibition loss to the Kansas City Royals at Camelback Ranch.
Teoscar Hernández doubled in the first inning, singled in the fourth and scored three runs, as the Dodgers lost their third straight spring game, but it was a rough afternoon for 10 minor league and non-roster pitchers, who combined to give up 11 runs and 11 hits, walked 12 and yielded nine stolen bases on nine attempts.
One of the few bright spots on the mound for the Dodgers was right-hander Nick Frasso, who was considered a top prospect before missing all of last season because of shoulder surgery. Frasso struck out one in a scoreless first inning.
Short hops
Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star who was unable to pitch while recovering from elbow surgery last season, completed his third bullpen workout of the spring on Saturday, throwing 25 pitches and mixing in a few cut-fastballs to go with his four-seamers and two-seamers. Ohtani’s fastball touched 95 mph. Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani, who won National League most valuable player honors with his 54-homer, 130-RBI, 59-stolen-base season in 2024, would make his exhibition debut as a hitter late next week. …
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who missed the final six weeks of the 2024 regular season and all of the postseason because of an elbow injury, will make his exhibition debut on Monday against 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 against the Seattle Mariners at Camelback Ranch. Roki Sasaki will pitch later next week, but Roberts isn’t sure whether it will come in an exhibition game or facing hitters in a simulated game.
