Shelby Miller is confused about why the Cardinals didn’t use him in the playoffs

Shelby Miller was one of the best rookies in baseball this season, throwing 173 innings with a 3.06 ERA and 169 strikeouts while winning 15 games, but the 22-year-old right-hander was a non-factor for the Cardinals during the playoffs and appeared in just one game as a mop-up reliever.

After the Game 6 loss last night Miller was asked about his lack of a postseason role and told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

There could be something that I don’t know about going on. Maybe I’ll have some understanding in the offseason. I think it’s more they’re just looking out for me, innings-wise. I don’t feel fatigued. I don’t feel tired. I feel really good. There is probably some answer that I don’t know about. I’ll wait to hear it.

That’s a pretty diplomatic, smart answer from a 22-year-old rookie, especially in the wake of his team losing the World Series, but the Cardinals choosing not to utilize Miller at all will certainly be questioned.

General manager John Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny have both explained that it was a workload-related issue, as they felt Miller showed signs of fatigue down the stretch. Of course, by the NLCS and World Series part of their reasoning for not using Miller was that he’d gone so long without pitching, which ... well, that’s a cycle you can’t break.

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