Will Miller be the Giants' only lefty option in the bullpen?

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- For a while, Erik Miller felt like the universe was conspiring to keep him off the mound this spring.

He missed time early in camp due to left middle finger inflammation. Then he came down with the flu. Once he overcame those maladies, the Giants put him on the calendar to make his spring debut against the Reds on Friday afternoon. Miller hopped in his car and made the 32-mile drive to Goodyear Ballpark, only to find out the game had been rained out.

“It was like, ‘Dude, I can’t get on the mound.’ It doesn’t matter what it is,” Miller said. “I started to definitely feel a little bit of anxiety.”

Much to his relief, Miller finally got a chance to make his first spring appearance in the Giants’ 7-3 win over the Royals at Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday. The 27-year-old entered the game in the fourth inning and struck out three while working around a leadoff single to MJ Melendez and a hit-by-pitch to Cavan Biggio.

“It felt good to get the first one out of the way,” said Miller, who topped out at 96 mph. “I’d say overall body, arm-wise, I feel fine. Maybe the arm-strength isn’t quite there yet, but that’s pretty typical. I’m not someone that comes out of the gates at the peak of what I can do during the season, so it’s just kind of building on every outing from here on out.”

Despite his setbacks, Miller came into camp with an enviable level of job security this spring. Following the departure of Taylor Rogers, who was traded to the Reds in exchange for Braxton Roxby in January, Miller is now the only lefty reliever on the Giants’ 40-man roster. He should be an indispensable piece of San Francisco’s relief corps this year, but he said he’d be surprised if the club didn’t end up carrying a second southpaw in its Opening Day bullpen.

“It’s definitely interesting,” Miller said. “Those are the decisions that are way above my pay grade. I’m not going to say how many lefties we need or whatever. Obviously, it’s not conventional. When you play teams that have a lot of lefties, it’s usually beneficial to have more than one just because I can only throw so many days in a row. It’s definitely open, and I think it would probably help.

“We have a lot of guys here that are super talented. A lot of the lefties here are really talented. I’m sure someone will kind of come out ahead in that race and find their way. I would be hard-pressed to believe that they’ll go in with one lefty.”

Raymond Burgos, Miguel Del Pozo and Ethan Small were among the first wave of roster cuts earlier this week, but the Giants still have four other non-roster invitees -- Joey Lucchesi, Enny Romero, Antonio Jimenez and Helcris Olivarez -- who are vying for a chance to serve as the Giants’ second lefty reliever. Still, manager Bob Melvin said no one’s separated himself from the pack thus far, leaving open the possibility that Miller will remain the Giants’ lone left-hander in the bullpen to start the year.

“It seems like every time we have our eye on somebody, then maybe there’s a bad game,” Melvin said. “Romero didn’t have his best game [against the White Sox on Thursday]. Jimenez hasn’t been as good as what we’ve kind of seen in the bullpens. Both are talented. One maybe more length, one maybe more situational. Olivarez, for a guy that’s walking 30% [in the Minors] has not here. He’s throwing strikes. You throw 100 miles an hour, so that’s been impressive. But I don’t think at this point in time, anybody’s stood out yet.”

While the bullpen competition remains ongoing, Miller is focusing on trying to make himself even tougher on left-handed hitters in 2025. After logging a 3.88 ERA over 73 relief appearances as a rookie, Miller has added a sinker to his mix and broke it out against the Royals’ pocket of lefties in the fourth, though he misplaced one that ran in and plunked Biggio on the shoulder.

“I was joking with some guys,” Miller said. “I don’t think I’ve hit someone with a fastball in probably three or four years. I said, ‘I’ll definitely hit a lefty with a sinker sometime this year.’ Probably Spring Training just because if I overdo it a little bit, I kind of open up early and it just takes off in on him. But I threw it like six or seven times. Obviously, I faced three lefties. It was good. Weak groundball, it just got by [second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald]. That’s what we’re looking for. I got a whiff with the next guy. I got some ugly swings. I think it gives me another weapon against lefties.”