Aidan Miller is one of the top prospects in the Phillies organization. (Cheryl Pursell)
At the outset of Spring Training, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that Aidan Miller playing left field wasn't a consideration. The natural shortstop, blocked by Trea Turner, would continue to work at that spot, along with third base. Second base might be sprinkled in. But no left field.
That makes an answer president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on SportsRadio 94 WIP Wednesday interesting.
Dombrowski was asked whether Miller — who is likely to open the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year — could earn a promotion to the Phillies this season without one of the regular players being traded or injured.
"Well, could he? Yes," Dombrowski said. "And the way I would describe that is part of it would be because A, he can be so talented. Now, he's dealing with a little bit of a sore back right now, so I'm not sure when he's gonna be back playing.
"But before that, you'd be saying, OK, he can play different positions. So that gives him the opportunity to play short once in a while ... play third once in a while ... play second once in a while ... and he even told us 'Hey, remember, I played the outfield when I was a youngster, I can play there, too.'"
Ultimately, the Phillies are going to have to balance trying to win with making sure that the 21-year-old gets the chance to develop properly.
"But you'd have to make sure he gets enough at-bats," Dombrowski said. "So we'd have to sit down ourselves and say how many at-bats is he actually going to get in this role by playing all over the place, assuming no injury? Or is he better off to just go out and play at Triple-A?
"So could he do it? Yes. Will he do it? I don't really know that because we'd have to really kind of look and say we're a better team with him on it, versus him going out and playing at the minor-league level."
There may come a day where the Phillies move Turner off of shortstop, but he earned the right to stay at that spot for at least another season with a defensive bounce-back in 2025 that saw him post two defensive runs saved and 16 outs above average.
Barring a major injury to Turner, there's not going to be many reps for Miller to get at shortstop. His long-term landing spot may very well be third base, but even if the Phillies are unlikely to retain Alec Bohm beyond his contract season of 2026, he still looks likely to be their cleanup hitter to begin the season. What happens if Miller is pushing for a promotion, but Bohm is performing well at third base and the second base platoon of Bryson Stott/Edmundo Sosa is also getting the job done?
On one hand, the Phillies could try to trade Bohm for another area of need, knowing that he'll likely walk in free agency in the offseason.
On the other hand, if Bohm is hitting well in the middle of Thomson's lineup, are you going to trade him an insert a rookie on a team with World Series aspirations?
That's where the idea of experimenting with Miller in the outfield might make sense. He's a natural middle infielder that stole 59 bases between Double-A and Triple-A a year ago. There's no reason to think he couldn't handle a corner outfield spot, particularly left field. If Miller appears ready for the majors on May 1 but there isn't an obvious opening in the infield, maybe the Phillies will take Miller up on his word and have him get some reps in left field for the IronPigs. If he proves capable of playing a serviceable left field, he could become a right-handed platoon option with Brandon Marsh, while also still getting some infield reps. It's not the craziest idea.
Aidan Miller increased his stock as much as any prospect in the second half of the season. He improved just about every aspect of his game.
Miller was one of the most productive minor league hitters after the break while looking comfortably above average at shortstop. https://t.co/oIlZQQ86I9 pic.twitter.com/se9xIvKFl3
For now, it looks like Miller will mostly play at the two aforementioned infield spots.
"Well, he'll play third, he'll play some short. And we may mix in second," Dombrowski said. "I think we have to be a little careful on just how he handles all of that at one time, because you move him up and you're putting him [at multiple positions]. But yes, I think he'll play primarily at third, but he will continue to play some other spots."
As Dombrowski said, the Phillies have to be mindful in how much they throw at Miller. Some guys can handle being moved all over the diamond while trying to adjust to facing big league pitching. Others can't. The Phillies need to keep the bigger picture in mind with Miller, who is one of baseball's top prospects. But if he forces their hands at some point this summer, Dombrowski, Thomson and company might have to get creative.
