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Injury Concerns For Phillies Top Infield Prospect

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports | By Ben Rosen | Last updated Mar 12, 2026 6:55 PM ET

There are some injury concerns with Philadelphia Phillies top infield prospect Aidan Miller. On March 12 the Phillies reassigned Miller to minor league camp effectively ruling him out of Grapefruit League play. Miller, the Phillies top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has been dealing with a back issue. This has kept him from participating in spring training games. Additionally Miller dealt with this at the end of the 2025 minor league season according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Lauber also wrote that the back issue kept Miller from participating in the Arizona Fall League this past offseason. Miller missing Grapefruit League play is more concerning.

On March 8 Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters that Miller has not swung a bat in two weeks. This is not a great sign especially since Miller was supposed to get a lot of playing time. Part of this may be the Phillies medical staff being cautious. Miller is a top prospect with high potential and they probably do not want to take major risks. At the same time this is not the first time Miller has had a back problem. Miller could still make his way to the majors this season. Currently it sounds as if the Phillies are holding Miller out for precautionary reasons. Hopefully Miller will be able to appear in the minor leagues by the end of April and this does not linger long term. However, the Phillies insistence of them not being concerned is concerning.

There May Be Injury Concerns With Phillies Prospect

Impact On Minor League Season

Given the recent comments by Thomson it is probably reasonable to believe Miller will not be ready for the start of the minor league season. Miller will start the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley once healthy in all likelihood. The 2025 season saw Miller finish the year playing eight games in Triple-A Miller recorded a .333/.514/.519 line with one home run and one RBI as well as seven stolen bases in that brief stint. Furthermore Miller had a 1.29 BB/K rate and a 185 wRC+ in Triple-A last season. In each of his two full minor league seasons Miller has played in at least 100 games. Participating in spring training would have helped Miller get ready for the minor league season. This is important given his limited Triple-A experience as well.

What Miller Would Have Been Doing In Grapefruit League Games

While Miller being on the Phillies opening day roster was not going to happen he would have gotten a chance to impress and get work in at a few different positions. With Trea Turner at shortstop long term this was going to be a good opportunity to get Miller work at second base and third base. Miller has exclusively played shortstop in the Phillies minor league system. In addition to that Alec Bohm is a free agent after this season. Miller could very well be the Phillies third baseman long term. This also reduces the chances that Miller gets called up if there is an infield injury early in the regular season. Miller is not currently on the 40-man roster. Furthermore the Phillies will be reshuffling that soon. The Phillies will be creating open spot when the roster is cut to 26.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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