00:00And next up on the biggest risers, and this was a big jump from number 52 in the last update to number 12, Aiden Miller of the Philadelphia Phillies.
00:11Because I think when you think top Phillies prospects, your mind immediately goes to Andrew Painter.
00:18But this is another guy who has emerged as one of the best prospects in baseball. Why?
00:23One of the few that didn't have big league success to catapult him, but he had incredible upper level success.
00:29It was a really rough start to the year for him.
00:32And I think a big focus for Miller was the defensive side of things at shortstop.
00:36And he has progressed so well there to where he went from a guy that I thought may slide over to third.
00:42So now looks like an above average defender at shortstop.
00:45But through the first 60 games of the season, AA mostly, he had a 703 OPS.
00:51Then pretty much the rest of the way, 56 game sample, he hit 300 with a 953 OPS.
00:59He started to slug way more.
01:01The defense continued to get better.
01:02He became much more of a factor on the base paths.
01:05It was every aspect of his game improved.
01:08And he was 20 years old, Aiden Miller was, at the start of the season.
01:11The thing that stands out the most to me is you can't beat him with velocity.
01:16From July 1st onward, Miller hit over 400 with an 1170 OPS against fastballs.
01:24And fastballs 93 plus.
01:26He had a 1277 OPS in that span.
01:31And that's like an 80 plate appearance sample.
01:32So he really geared himself up to be able to handle velocity.
01:35His swing decisions are elite.
01:37It was like an 18% chase rate.
01:39He needs to improve a little bit more, you know, against breaking balls.
01:42But the swing decisions are so good.
01:43Like that's the last little piece.
01:45But when you're defending, you're playing phenomenal defense.
01:48You're not missing heaters.
01:49And you're rarely chasing breaking balls.
01:51I think that's a really high floor.
01:53And I don't know what the shortstop plan is, you know, three or four years down the line from now.
01:58But I think he's proven, Aiden Miller, that you can just stick him at third right now.
02:02And be a really good player for you as soon as, you know, the early going of this coming season.
02:08We got about 40 seconds left.
02:10Do you think that Aiden Miller could be the Phillies' third baseman as soon as the start of next year?
02:16If they move off Alec Boehm?
02:18I think they have a lot of guys they need to pay.
02:22And Miller, I think, can bring a lot of things that Boehm has into the table.
02:25I think a better glove, more speed.
02:27Maybe the bat doesn't quite make an impact as quickly because there's growing pains.
02:32But ultimately, I think he's worth the shot in doing that because of the defense, the speed.
02:36And if the bat does come along, he gives you a higher ceiling than what you got with Boehm as well.
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