Andrew Miller is ALCS MVP as Cleveland Indians Reach World Series

On Wednesday night, the Cleveland Indians punched their ticket to the 2016 World Series by winning Game 5 of their best of seven American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Following the series-clinching game, MLB announced that Andrew Miller the Indians southpaw reliever had earned the Most Valuable Player award for the series.

The use of Miller during the series had become a big talking point amongst baseball pundits, as Cleveland manager Terry Francona turned to Miller repeatedly during the middle innings for a number of frames.

Miller came in during the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game, having appeared previously twice during the seventh inning and once during the eighth giving him four appearances in five games.

Each time he appeared, he delivered for the Indians. In all, Miller pitched 7 2/3 innings, with 14 strikeouts allowing no runs, three hits and did not walk a batter.

Of course, the mere presence of Miller gave Francona the opportunity to manage differently.

Cleveland entered this postseason minus two of its top three starters from the regular season – Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco. The Indians also had to take Trevor Bauer out of Game 3 during the first inning due to having a cut on his finger.

However, with Miller and the likes of Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw available for later in each game, Francona could micro-manage his starters such as Josh Tomlin as well as Ryan Merritt.

Pundits have always said that it is difficult if not impossible to quantify what elite reliever means to a club, and that actually was the case for the series.

Therefore, it was fitting that Miller was named the fourth reliever in the history of the MVP award joining the likes of Koji Uehara, Mariano Rivera and Dennis Eckersley.

This is the first time in 19 seasons the Indians won the American League Pennant. Cleveland will now await the winner of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, which is, tied 2-2.

The Indians will have time to rest Miller and the other members of the bullpen as they prepare for the World Series. Francona will likely use his relievers in the same fashion during the World Series as he did in the ALCS and will hope for the same results.