Milton still in rotation, for now
Coaches hope mechanical adjustments will turn around struggling LH
By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer
The Reds continue to tinker with Eric Milton's mechanics in hopes that he finds himself.
"Right now, (pitching coach) Don Gullett and (bullpen coach) Tom Hume are working with him," general manager Dan O'Brien said. "They're making mechanical adjustments. They're progressing with that. They're not major adjustments.
"But they should help him with his command and control."
Milton, 3-7 with a 7.46 ERA, is scheduled to start Monday in the opening game of the Reds' interleague series with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
O'Brien said he'll make that start.
"There may come a time when they (Gullett and Hume) want him to take a step back and skip a turn," O'Brien said. "We haven't come to that point yet."
Milton went five innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits, in the Reds' 11-9 victory over Tampa Bay Thursday.
Milton has been dreadful in six of his last seven outings. He is 1-5 with a 9.16 ERA in that span. He has allowed 54 hits and 11 home runs in 361/3 innings.
O'Brien said Milton is healthy.
"His stuff is of the same quality it's been throughout his career," O'Brien said.
But Milton's numbers are way off. He leads the National League in hits allowed, runs allowed and home runs allowed.
The Reds have two pitchers in their bullpen - Matt Belisle and Randy Keisler - who are starters by trade.
Belisle (2-5, 4.76 ERA) and Keisler (2-0, 1.93) both have pitched considerably better than Milton.
But Milton is in the first year of a $25.5 million, three-year contract.