Effective Miller would like to sharpen cutter

March 10th, 2016

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Shelby Miller gave up just one run over three innings against the Angels in Thursday's 5-3 D-backs win, but the right-hander knows he still has much work to do before Spring Training is over.
In his first outing, last weekend against the Dodgers, Miller focused on throwing his curveball, and he did that again on Thursday while also adding a couple of other things to his to-do list for his next outing.
Miller sets right tone for D-backs' pitchers
"From today, I'm going to try and work on my cutter a little bit more; it was backing up a lot," Miller said.
Mike Trout stole a base off Miller, who felt he might not have done a good enough job giving catcher Tuffy Gosewisch a shot at throwing out Trout. So Miller plans to work on that as well as quickening his pace during his next bullpen session.
Game notes
• Right-hander Evan Marshall continues to impress this spring in his bid to win the final spot in the D-backs' bullpen. Marshall allowed one unearned run in two innings after throwing a scoreless frame in each of his first two outings of the spring.
• Miller teamed up with shortstop Nick Ahmed on a pickoff play in the third inning to save a run.

"The pickoff was fantastic," D-backs manager Chip Hale said.
• Infielder Brandon Drury went 1-for-2 to raise his spring average to .444.
"He keeps very aggressive at the plate," Hale said. "He's swinging the bat like he wants to get a hit. He's not trying to feel for it; he's not getting defensive. He's just being aggressive."