There's a chance left-hander Andrew Miller may not begin spring training at full strength.
Miller, penciled in as Florida's fifth starter, underwent a follow-up shockwave therapy procedure on his troublesome right knee in December. He recently started throwing at the team's spring training complex in Florida with the hope that he'll be ready to go when camp opens Feb. 14. But at this point, there's no guarantee he'll stay on pace with the rest of the pitching staff once workouts begin. After all, he missed time last year because of tendinitis in the right knee, which required the first OssaTron treatment in July.
Miller, 23, opened the 2008 season in the starting rotation and went 5-9 with a 5.63 ERA in 20 starts before landing on the disabled list on July 18. He returned to action in September, pitching the rest of the season out of the bullpen, where he went 1-1 with a 9.45 ERA in nine appearances.
The Marlins plan to use Miller as a starter, but if he falls behind this spring, there are plenty of candidates in camp to take his spot -- including right-hander Ryan Tucker and left-hander Aaron Thompson.
The Marlins will go into camp knowing that right-handers Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez will be ready to go from day one. Both starters didn't join the team until midseason last year because of injuries.
"It's unusual for me to sound as confident as I am, but when you look at Johnson and (Rickey) Nolasco and (Chris) Volstad and Sanchez and Andrew Miller's potential, I think we can match up with anybody, not only in this division but in the National League," baseball operations president Larry Beinfest said.
