The Philadelphia Phillies have a new No. 1 prospect according to an updated rankings list by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel. The columnist published a piece with a refreshed list of the Top 10 prospects for all 30 teams, with shortstop Aidan Miller taking over the throne for the Phillies.
Pitcher Andrew Painter was previously Philadelphia's No. 1 prospect on ESPN's list. The starting pitcher has had an inconsistent year, causing him to drop to second. But Miller, one of the Phillies' other skilled players has had a tremendous month of August, which was good enough for the publication to list him as the team's best young player.
Aidan Miller dethrones Andrew Painter as Phillies No. 1 prospect
Miller, ESPN's new No. 1 Phillies prospect, was in a slump earlier this summer, finishing 56 June at-bats with a slash line of .196/.361/.339 and an OPS of .700. His struggles continued in July as he compiled a .649 OPS with a .190/.333/.316 line in 79 plate appearances.
He has been unbelievable at the plate in August. Miller has 16 RBIs in the month, which is more than the 11 he finished with combined in June and July. He has an exceptional 1.125 OPS in 85 at-bats, along with a .365/.466/.659 slash line.
Miller could earn a promotion to Triple-A with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs before the conclusion of their regular season. He recently had his first game of the season with multiple home runs on Aug. 21. He went 3-for-5 with two homers and three RBIs in the Fightin Phils' 8-4 victory against the Curve.
Aidan Miller again!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 22, 2025
The @Phillies’ No. 2 prospect launches his 12th homer of the year for his first pro multihomer game, raising his August OPS to 1.107 for the Double-A @FightinPhils: pic.twitter.com/m1uaFV4IcU
The shortstop is developing quite a reputation for being a base-stealer with 50 stolen bases in 60 attempts. He has more than doubled his stolen base total from the 23 he finished with a year ago.
Miller's 39 RBIs this late in the season could result in him not surpassing the 60 he finished with a year ago. He has surpassed the total of 56 walks he had last season with 63 so far in 2025. The Phillies' best infielding prospect now has a slash line of .254/371/.421 and a .792 OPS in 101 games with the Fightin Phils.
Painter, in his first season pitching since 2022, has had an inconsistent year. After pitching solidly in four starts with the Single-A Clearwater Threshers, he has had his share of struggles in 18 starts in Triple-A.
Andrew Painter fans four batters on four different pitches (cutter, four-seamer, slider, curveball) in his latest start!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 25, 2025
The @Phillies' No. 1 prospect allows just one knock over six solid innings for the Triple-A @IronPigs. pic.twitter.com/KpNmxS5XWh
The 13th overall selection of the 2021 MLB Draft has a 5.11 ERA in 86 1/3 innings over 18 starts for the IronPigs. Painter's 39 total walks with Clearwater and Lehigh Valley are more than the 25 he finished with in 2022. His 99 strikeouts are less than the 155 he totaled three years ago.
The Phillies may promote Painter to the big leagues in September. If they don't call him up this year, they will move him to their 40-man roster during the offseason before the Rule 5 Draft in December. The franchise did that last winter with former pitching prospect Mick Abel to protect him from another MLB team selecting him.
Miller has certainly garnered enough buzz around his tremendous month of August. If he ends up finishing the season well, it will create more excitement within the organization regarding how well he could continue to develop in the Phillies' minor league system in 2026.