Shelby Miller Suspended Indefinitely By St. Louis Cardinals For Alcohol-Related Conflagration

Shelby Miller, the St. Louis Cardinals’ top prospect, was suspended indefinitely for an alcohol-related conflagration. For more information, check Rick Hummel’s latest.

Shelby Miller, the top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals system and one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, was suspended by the Cardinals Tuesday for alcohol-related violations, according to the Post-Dispatch‘s Rick Hummel. Fox Sports Midwest, while broadcasting the Cardinals’ game in Pittsburgh that night, added that Tony La Russa was involved in the decision-making process, which is sure to provoke some Twitter wags. 

For once Miller’s age relative to his league was a factor against him in the eyes of prospect-watchers—this is apparently not the 20-year-old’s first alcohol-related altercation, and the Cardinals, Springfield and St. Louis, decided that immediate action was necessary.

That said, as a practical matter this suspension doesn’t mean much. Miller, struggling of late and coming off his worst outing of the season—one described variously as a bicep and perspiration problem—could probably use the rest anyway, and he’s likely to make at least one more start before the Springfield Cardinals’ season ends in September. 

The suspension may put him on notice, but it doesn’t exactly put him out.