The VandySports 100: No. 64, Brian Miller

Brian Miller, a key reliever for some of Vanderbilt's greatest baseball teams, checks in at No. 64 on our countdown of top 100 players we've covered. You can follow our countdown here.

Honors and awards: Miller did not earn any significant honors during his career.

In the VU record book: Single-season saves: second (16, 2013)

Career saves: first (26)

Career ERA: third (2.32)

Before VU: Attended Independence High in nearby Franklin, Tenn., where he was the 2011 Mid-State Player of the Year. Was his district's right-handed Pitcher of the Year in 2010 and the 2009 district tournament MVP. Was a two-time all-district basketball player. Perfect Game ranked him the No. 398 right-handed pitcher in the Class of 2011.

Freshman (2012): Was one of two key bullpen arms, along with Will Clinard, on a 35-28 (16-14 Southeastern Conference) team that finished second in the Raleigh Regional. Led the team with 34 appearances and 14 appearances in league play, making one start. Had team-best 3.26 ERA. Didn't get a decision in 22 2/3 SEC regular-season innings, during which he struck out 17, walked eight and had a 3.57 ERA with two saves. Got the final four outs in VU's NCAA tournament-opening win over UNC-Wilmington. Pitched 3 2/3 innings with one unearned run vs. Kentucky. Pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to earn a save vs. MTSU. Pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings to get a save vs. Auburn. Had a three-inning save vs. South Carolina in which he allowed three runs (one earned). Worked four scoreless innings to pick up a save vs. Tennessee Tech. Started vs. Louisiana Tech, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits over two innings. Struck out five hitters in a win over Oakland.

Sophomore (2013): Led the team in appearances (32) and appearances in league play (14) for a 54-12 (26-3) team that won the SEC. Had a 1.90 ERA, 17 strikeouts, four walks, a 3-1 record and nine saves in 23 2/3 SEC regular-season innings. Had 16 saves overall, which was a single-season school record until Tyler Brown broke that mark in 2019. Pitched four no-hit innings to earn a save vs. Georgia Tech in the NCAA tournament. Gave up one run and one hit in 4 1/3 innings in a loss to LSU in the SEC tournament championship. Picked up a save vs. Mississippi St. with two scoreless innings. Picked up two saves and a win in the Ole Miss series, throwing 5 2/3 innings while allowing two runs. Threw five scoreless innings and picked up a win in an extra-inning game vs. Tennessee. Threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out three to get a save and beat Lipscomb. Threw two scoreless innings to pick up a victory over Florida. Got the final two outs against Auburn to pick up his fourth save of the week. Picked up two wins and a save in one week between the Illinois-Chicago series and a mid-week game with Arkansas St., totaling six scoreless innings in three games. Pitched 2 2/3 perfect innings vs. Long Beach St. for a save in the season-opening series.

Junior (2014): Led the team with 30 appearances and tied for the team lead in appearances in league play (13) for VU's national championship squad. Pitched 18 SEC regular-season innings with a 2.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts, two walks, a 1-1 record and three saves. Set career-highs for innings (7 1/3) and strikeouts (eight) while allowing two runs in a College World Series appearance vs. Texas. Threw 1 2/3 perfect innings and stranded a man in a super regional win over Stanford. Pitched two innings vs. Missouri to get a save. Threw five innings against Texas A&M and got a win, allowing one run while fanning five.

Post-VU: Tampa Bay selected Miller in Round 15 of the 2014 MLB Draft. Despite a 1.77 ERA over 111 2/3 Minor League innings, Miller, who never made it past "A" ball, was released and never played pro ball again after 2016, with injuries wrecking his 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Miller was an unorthodox player, a soft-tossing, side-arming right-hander who induced a lot of ground balls. He could be used frequently--he had 96 appearances, or 49 percent of VU's games during his career--and pitch a lot when he did, with so many of his 26 saves spanning multiple innings.

He also had a great deal of success.

There are 23 pitchers on this list; Miller's 1.11 runners allowed per inning tops them all. On that same list, Miller's 2.59 "indexed" ERA--that's adjusted for general run-scoring environment in college baseball during coach Tim Corbin's tenure--ranks second. Only one other pitcher who has thrown fewer innings appears in front of Miller on this list. Seven of the 10 behind him threw more innings.

There aren't a lot of flaws to Miller's body of work.

Other than some moments as a freshman, the only significant rough patch of his career spanned two of the three South Carolina games that ended the 2014 regular season, plus, an SEC tournament loss to Ole Miss, during which he allowed three runs in four appearances and allowed six inherited runners to score. Miller had been the team's closer; from that point on, VU relievers saved five more games and none went to Miller.

Of course, Hayden Stone and Adam Ravenelle were also pitching tremendously well late in 2014. So, maybe it had as much to do with them as it did Miller, who came back to save the bullpen with that excellent 7 1/3-inning appearance in a CWS loss to Texas, setting up the team's win the next day that vaulted VU into the finals vs. Virginia.

It's hard to rank closers high on lists like this. While their innings are often significant, there usually just aren't enough of them when starters get three times the workload. Miller is the rare reliever who closed the innings gap. And it wasn't just that, but the fact that, just about any day, Corbin knew he could count on Miller to throw, and far more often than not, throw well. That kind of player has tremendous value, and for that reason I didn't struggle much with ranking him as high as I did.