At home in camp, could Phils' top prospect reach bigs sooner than later?
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Aidan Miller grew up about 30 minutes from BayCare Ballpark.
He still lives at home, and why wouldn¡¯t he?
Miller loves the food, and he gets to share his experiences from his first Phillies camp with family and friends. According to MLB Pipeline, Miller, 20, is baseball¡¯s No. 27 prospect and ranks No. 1 in the Phils' organization.
He is the camp's youngest player and will get opportunities to play and practice with stars like Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.
¡°I feel like half of this locker room are guys I grew up watching play,¡± Miller said Tuesday morning. ¡°It's so cool to be in the same presence as those guys. And I feel a little starstruck, like a kid again.¡±
Miller is here because he could be a star, too.
¡°He might come very quickly,¡± Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said last week. ¡°We¡¯re getting to the point where they¡¯re getting closer. If it starts with [Andrew] Painter, Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, it¡¯s time that we start bringing some of those guys in, being part of our camp and being exposed to it. It¡¯s not going to be long before they start being meshed into playing with the big league club.¡±
Miller isn¡¯t expected to get to the Majors in 2025, although Dombrowski couldn¡¯t completely rule out the possibility.
The 2026 season is more realistic. Miller jumped three levels last season, starting with Single-A Clearwater before moving to High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading. Overall, he batted .261 with 11 home runs, 60 RBIs and an .812 OPS.
Miller proved himself a capable shortstop, too.
¡°The biggest thing is staying consistent,¡± he said. ¡°I got off to a really hot start last year, then got cold towards the middle of the year, then picked it back up towards the end. When things go bad, figuring out what gets me right and gets me back to that spot.
¡°They really attacked my weaknesses. At the lower levels, they filled the strike zone. You know what counts you're in, you know you're gonna get a heater in this count. I think the pitchers have more of a plan -- that's the biggest thing I noticed the more I climbed up. The velo obviously is a tick higher.¡±
What must he improve to push for a promotion earlier than the Phillies envision?
¡°I would say everything,¡± Miller said. ¡°Every single day, I'm trying to find a way to get better at every little aspect of my game. In the cages, it's really just making it tough environments in there, doing angled machines, live BP, just finding ways to challenge myself. Ultimately, it will make me a better hitter.¡±
Before Preston Mattingly was promoted to general manager, he ran the Phillies¡¯ player development department.
Miller¡¯s mindset always stuck out to Mattingly.
¡°What makes him special is his work ethic and who he is,¡± Mattingly said.
¡°From the second he got into our organization, it¡¯s been like, he's on a mission to get better. And either prove people wrong of where he got picked [27th overall in 2023], prove people wrong with the fact he can play shortstop. And ultimately, he just knows where he wants to go. He¡¯s consistently asking us questions and challenging us to, like, 'Hey, get me there quicker.' Honestly, we have to pull the reins back on him a little bit.¡±
Mattingly remembered how Miller wanted to resume his infield work at Carpenter Complex a few days after the end of the 2024 season.
¡°It¡¯s a good problem to have,¡± Mattingly said. ¡°He¡¯s extremely driven.¡±
The Phillies thought about having Miller play all around the infield this spring. For now, however, he is going to play only shortstop.
¡°It means they believe in me over there,¡± Miller said.
But if it accelerates his timeline to the big leagues, Miller is open-minded. He said he would play anywhere.
There could be openings in the future. Decisions will need to be made. The Phillies discussed trading third baseman Alec Bohm in the offseason. Bohm will be a free agent after the 2026 season. The Phils have been asked about moving Turner to the outfield. They said it is not a consideration at this point.
Miller said Tuesday that he heard Dombrowski¡¯s comments that he could move quickly to the big leagues.
¡°I mean, that's the goal,¡± Miller said. ¡°I want to get to Philly as fast as I can. I want to be there and stick there. I¡¯m doing whatever I can to get there.¡±