Quick Facts
Biography
Wade Thomas Miller (born September 13, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Houston Astros from 1999 through 2004, the Boston Red Sox in 2005, and the Chicago Cubs in 2006 and 2007. He bats and throws right-handed. He attended Brandywine Heights High School in Topton, Pennsylvania. He is currently Alvernia University's pitching coach, a position he assumed in 2012.
Career
Drafted out of Alvernia University, Reading, PA by the Houston Astros in 1996. A winner of 45 games in a three-year period for the Astros, Miller was one of the best young pitchers in the National League before injuring the rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder in 2004.
Miller went 16-8 with 183 strikeouts and a 3.40 ERA in 2001. A year later, he was close behind at 15-4, 144, 3.35, and tied the club record with a 12-game winning streak over the summer. He then pitched through right forearm pain in 2003, but still was 14-13, 161, 4.13, and led his team in starts (33) and innings (187.1).
In 2004, Miller was 7-7 with 74 strikeouts and a 3.35 ERA in 15 starts before going on the disabled list in June with a season-ending rotator cuff injury. The Astros believed he was playing hurt with shoulder and elbow injuries much of the year before, but he never complained about them.
A free agent before the 2005 season, Miller was signed by the Boston Red Sox. He started the year on the disabled list. The acquisition paid off well when Miller was activated on May 8, while starters Curt Schilling and David Wells spent time on the DL. He finished the 2005 season with a record of 4-4 and a 4.95 ERA.
On January 23, 2006, the Chicago Cubs signed Miller to a one-year, one million dollar contract, with $1 million more in incentives. Miller made his first start of the 2006 season on September 9. Overall, Miller made five starts in 2006, finishing with a record of 0-2 with a 4.57 ERA. He filed for free agency after the season.
On November 9, 2006, Miller signed an incentive-laden, 1.5 million dollar one-year extension to stay with the Chicago Cubs under new manager Lou Piniella. However, after three unsuccessful starts where he compiled a 10+ ERA, Miller was once again placed on the DL in July 2007. He was placed on waivers granting his unconditional release from the Cubs in August 2007.
On March 7, 2009, Miller agreed to a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
In a nine-year career, Miller has compiled a 62-45 record with 743 strikeouts and a 4.00 ERA in 880.2 innings.
Miller was inducted into the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21, 2011.