When the list of Phillies assigned to the roster of the Surprise Saguaros was released, Aidan Miller was the name to circle. On Monday, the opening day of the Arizona Fall League season, the Phillies announced that Miller would not play in the league. Looking back, it actually makes sense.

Miller, who had played in eight games with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, was suddenly out of the lineup on the final Friday of the season. Then, it was “just a day off.” When he wasn’t in the lineup the next two days, nobody seemed to know why and the team and manager were primarily locked away in the clubhouse and off limits to the media. It’s not unusual for minor league managers to shield a situation here and there even when there is no reason. I remember asking IronPigs skipper Dave Huppert about having seen John Mayberry Jr. walking through the parking lot with all of his bags of equipment hours before a game, and then saw his empty locker. Was he going up to the Phillies? Huppert’s response was to say: “No, he’s still here. I think he might have changed lockers though.” Okay.

It was Philadelphia Inquirer writer Scott Lauber who reported the news on X.

Since we have no idea what the injury is – there was no apparent injury during his stint with Lehigh Valley – we can only assume that Miller will be ready for spring training, but when you consider that the last time he played was just under three weeks ago, it does raise some suspicion. Miller’s season was actually only three days longer than the normal Double-A season and he played just eight games at Triple-A, so the added development time is certainly not substantial.

In this clip, Aidan Miller talks about his jump in stolen bases in 2025 and what went into his increase in base thefts.

Even had Miller played in the AFL and put up big numbers the odds of him making the Phillies team out of spring training would have been long. He is a good player and will likely have a long major league career, but he is not quite ready to start that career just yet and the AFL wouldn’t have given him enough added experience to make a difference.

The Phillies have worked on his mechanics, especially after a particularly cold start to the 2025 season with Double-A Reading. Miller had a bit of a hitch right at the start of his swing and he has worked to limit that. He is also becoming more of a refined hitter who has the potential to hit for average and still maintain some solid power.

YOU LOOK LIKE YOU COULD USE SOME PHILLIES “STUFF”

Defensively, Miller is currently a one-trick pony who has played nowhere but shortstop both in high school and the pros. There has been debate about moving him to second or third but it has yet to happen and according to Miller, it wasn’t going to happen in the AFL. Trea Turner is signed through 2033, so unless the thought of moving him to the outfield actually takes place, there wouldn’t be room for Miller.

It’s likely that Miller would spend most, if not all, of the 2026 season at Triple-A to truly be ready to play in the majors.

Initially, Miller was one of eight prospects that the Phillies were sending to the AFL to be a part of the Surprise Saguaros.

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