The unorthodox method Aidan Miller is using to manage his back and dominate the Arizona Fall League

Aidan Miller lost a full year of development to persistent back issues in 2026. Though he returned at the end of the season to play three regular-season games (and a few playoff matchups) with Double-A Reading, Miller is behind where many in the Philadelphia Phillies organization thought he would be at this point in 2026. He may have even been able to contribute at the big-league level.

So, to recoup that lost time, the Phillies made him a last-minute addition to their Arizona Fall League affiliate, the Surprise Saguaros. Though Miller had played only shortstop up to that point in his professional career, the Saguaros already had a full complement, so Miller has been playing third base instead.

In the eight games he’s played in the AFL so far, he’s hit the cover off the ball, batting .333 with 15 walks and three extra-base hits in 40 plate appearances. He credits his resurgence not to the surgical procedure he underwent this summer, but to the techniques he learned at Tom Brady’s TB12 Performance & Recovery facility in Tampa, FL.

Three to four weeks after the procedure, Miller went to the TB12 because he was still feeling pain in his back. They asked him to practice his normal swing motion and massaged him while he moved.

TB12 employees taught Miller’s trainer, Justin Ahrens, the technique, and he’s been getting those massages several times a week to manage his discomfort. It’s all about moving soft tissue around.

“There was a point where I was wondering, 'Am I going to have to deal with these flare-ups for the rest of my career?” Miller told The Phillies Show podcast. Now, though, “It’s not even really a thought anymore.”

He’s still using a myriad of practices to keep his back in check: Miller practices yoga, what he calls “flossing” his joints, and keeping them “lubed up.”

“One of our strength coaches, Ryan Maedel, kinda got me through a jiu-jitsu movement program, and I do that every day too,” he said.

Aidan Miller's back problems finally appear solved

Things finally feel normal for Miller. Before he left for the AFL, the Phillies told him simply, “Get to the season healthy, get your at-bats.”

Playing third base in the AFL might get Miller to the Majors faster, too. With Alec Bohm a pending free agent, the hot corner is, as yet, unoccupied. And if he does see the Opening Day roster in 2027, Miller will find a figure in the Phillies dugout who’s dealt with this all before.

“Don Mattingly came up to me in spring training a couple times. He dealt with back injuries as well; he’s given me exercises and things that he did,” Miller said.

If he keeps swinging the bat like he has this fall, Miller will certainly give president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski pause before signing a third baseman this offseason. Perhaps the solution to the middle-of-the-order right-handed bat they’ve been hunting for so long is already in the Phillies system.

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