Aaron Miller (minors02)

From BR Bullpen

Aaron Shaun Miller

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Aaron Miller is a former first-round draft pick as a pitcher who was Australian Baseball League MVP as a hitter.

Miller hit .471 and slugged .986 as a high school junior in 2005. He batted .581 with 14 homers, 54 runs, 20 steals and 49 RBI as a senior and was named third-team All-American by Baseball America. He also was 3-0 with a 0.57 ERA on the mound and was an Aflac All-American as well. The Colorado Rockies chose him in the 11th round of the 2006 amateur draft but he opted for college.

His freshman year at Baylor, Miller batted .296/.384/.511 with 35 RBI in 39 games before he was hit by a pitch that broke his right arm and ended his season early. As a sophomore, the right fielder hit .295/.390/.562 with 12 homers, 41 runs and 45 RBI in 58 contests. He tied for 7th in the Big 12 Conference with 18 doubles and tied for 9th in home runs. He was 9 for 43 for the Chatham A's before shoulder surgery cut his Cape Cod League season short. His junior year, he produced at a .310/.387/.548 clip with 12 HR, 48 R and 47 RBI in 56 games, while going 3-3 with two saves and a 5.12 ERA; he struck out 65 in 51 innings. The Los Angeles Dodgers took him 36th overall in the 2009 amateur draft; the selection was compensation for the loss of Derek Lowe to free agency. He was the Dodgers' first pick that year. Despite having been primarily a hitter in college, the Dodgers signed him as a pitcher. The scout was Chris Smith.

Miller pitched in the minors in 2009 for the AZL Dodgers (8 H, 5 R, 10 K in 5 2/3 IP) and Great Lakes Loons (3-1, 2.08, 38 K in 30 1/3 IP). He allowed one run in 4 1/3 IP for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League. Baseball America named him the Dodgers' closest prospect to the majors - five years later, he was not in the Show yet. They also rated him as the Dodgers' #3 overall prospect.

In 2010, Aaron was 6-4 with a 2.92 ERA for the Inland Empire 66ers in the hitter-friendly California League, with 99 K in 101 2/3 IP and only 76 hits allowed. He fell to 1-4, 7.04 with 18 walks and 28 hits in 23 innings after a promotion to the Chattanooga Lookouts. He was third in the Dodgers chain in whiffs (121), behind Josh Wall and Matt Magill, but also 4th with 66 walks. He was named the Cal League's #8 prospect by Baseball America, between Jaff Decker and Juan Nicasio.

A groin injury limited Miller to 11 games in 2011, going 3-2 with a 3.97 ERA for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and going 1-0 with two shutout innings for the AZL Dodgers. He had a 6-6, 4.45 record for the 2012 Lookouts, walking 71 in 121 1/3 innings. Getting to bat at all regularly for the first time since college, though, he hit .297/.333/.541 in 43 plate appearances. He tied Josh Stinson for the Southern League lead in walks issued and led Dodger farmhands in walks (10 ahead of Magill and Ethan Martin). He had a 4.15 ERA in three Puerto Rican League outings for the Indios de Mayagüez but was shelled for six first-inning runs in the championship finale in a loss to the Criollos de Caguas.

The southpaw struggled on the hill for the 2013 Lookouts (0-2, 6.00 in 11 G) and was moved to the field with the Loons, hitting .266/.332/.419 in 78 games. As a pitcher in the minors, he had been 20-19 with a 4.03 ERA, fanning 338 in 342 innings but walking 180. Mostly a DH for the 2014 Quakes, he produced at a .257/.350/.476 clip with 28 doubles and 14 home runs.

Miller starred for the Adelaide Bite for the 2014-2015 Australian Baseball League. He hit .389/.444/.701 with 12 home runs, 37 runs and 33 RBI in 36 games, stealing 11 bases in 13 tries. He led the ABL in average (.018 over Christian Lopes), OBP (.013 ahead of Luke Hughes), slugging (.070 more than Kellin Deglan) and OPS (106 ahead of Hughes). He was also third in runs (one behind Joey Wong and Brandon Dixon), third in hits (56, behind Thomas Coyle and Dixon), second in home runs (four behind Deglan), tied Trent Oeltjen for third in RBI, third in total bases (101, after Coyle and Dixon) and tied for 6th in steals. This was all despite missing the last 12 games due to returning to the US due to a family illness. He won the Helms Award as the MVP, the third straight American to win.

Sources[edit]

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