Phillies accelerated top prospect's timeline to majors this year but with a catch

While we sift through the fallout from the Philadelphia Phillies' postseason elimination, we can afford to turn some of our attention to the future. There's at least one name that every Phillies fan, no matter how casual, will have come across at some point this season.

Top prospect Aidan Miller captured the attention of the Philliesverse this year, making waves not only among the media and fanbase but also in the upper echelons of the organization's front office. At the beginning of the season, it seemed that the 2023 No. 27 draft pick out of high school was still a long way off from the majors; it turns out he might be much closer than we thought.

Phillies accelerated Aidan Miller's timeline to the majors this year, but there's a catch

From the sounds of it, the Phillies weren't surprised by their No. 1 prospect's advanced progress through their minor league system in his first full season. Phillies assistant general manager of player development Preston Mattingly certainly wasn't, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.

“The second this kid stepped foot in the organization, I could’ve told you that he’s going to be ready for all challenges that come his way," Mattingly said back in September, per Zolecki. "Just from the way he’s made, from a work ethic standpoint, from a mentality standpoint [and] how driven he is.

Miller began the season by tearing up pitching in Single-A, earning a well-deserved promotion to High-A in June. After hitting .333 with a .996 OPS in his final 26 contests with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, he was again bumped up a level to Double-A in early September.

“The player always dictates when he’s ready and when he’s not," Mattingly said. "There’s still a lot of things he needs to work on, but he’s going to attack those every day. So, when he’s ready, I think it’s up to him.”

Miller only played in five Double-A games before the Eastern League's season came to a close. He didn't do anything eye-opening in his limited 22 plate appearances, batting .190/.227/.190 with two RBI and a stolen base. But that small sample size doesn't mean anything at this point. We'll have to wait and see how he handles a regular season workload at that level next year.

Fans excitedly kept track of Miller's progress this year, with dreams of seeing him playing the infield at Citizens Bank Park sooner rather than later. However, Miller's impressive advancement through the minors this year comes with a caveat.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski addressed the status of the team's top prospects in his end-of-season press conference earlier this week and tempered expectations for the still 20-year-old Miller's future.

“Aidan Miller I don’t anticipate being ready this coming year," Dombrowski said bluntly when asked about how he views some of the most talented players coming through the system as options in 2025.

So, Phillies fans who are chomping at the bit to see Miller in the big leagues will have to pump the brakes — hopefully only for a little while.

It's unclear if Dombrowski was referring to when the team comes out of spring training at the end of March or if he's already nixing any notion of seeing Miller progress as far as a September call-up. The top brass doesn't see the talented third baseman as an option to count on next season, which makes sense. He's only played one full season of professional ball.

If he continues improving and advancing next year, could we see him late in the season? As Mattingly says, the player dictates when he's ready. It sounds like it's up to Aidan Miller.

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