Phillies' Aidan Miller Credits Brother With Helping Him Get Through Back Injury

Aidan Miller has been through a long journey to get back to playing baseball, which he's grateful for this year.

Aidan Miller is back with Reading after missing a year with a back injury. | John Schuchman/Baseball Stories LLC

READING, Pa. -- Aidan Miller is just grateful to be back on a baseball field.

No expectations and no hype. The Phillies' top hitting prospect hasn't played in an official baseball game in 353 days after dealing with a back injury that's finally been corrected.

It's been a long road back (no pun intended) for Miller, who had to deal with an injury neither he nor the Phillies could figure out.

"The fact that I’m out here playing baseball again, being healthy, is all I really care about right now," a smiling Miller said as he looked around the confines of FirstEnergy Stadium to Phillies On SI. "The results are one thing, knocking the rust off and all that, but I’m grateful to be back out here.

"I didn’t think I’d be doing that this year.”

Miller came into spring training with a lot of hype, especially coming off a season which he emerged as a can't miss player in the upper levels of the Phillies system, stealing 59 bases in 116 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley. Miller hit .264 with 14 home runs and 42 RBIs in the minor leagues last season, having a .392 OBP with an .825 OPS. 

Late in the season is where Miller thrived, hitting .356 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and 22 stolen bases from August 1 to the end of the year. He had a .457 OBP and a 1.099 OPS in that same stretch. 

The Phillies shut Miller down at the end of the year and kept him out of the Arizona Fall League with back issue that creeped up at the end of the year. Miller returned in time for spring training with a lot of hype surrounding him.

The Phillies still view him as the shortstop of the future, but also had Miller playing third base. The way Miller was hitting, it was only a matter of time before the Phillies called him up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and into the big leagues -- playing either shortstop or third base this year.

Then the back injury reappeared. Miller was shut down for the rest of the spring. He didn't have an answer why the back injury kept recurring.

Neither did the Phillies.

“It was frustrating. I didn’t think it would last that long," Miller said. "In the back of my mind, I only thought it would be a couple months and it just kinda kept lingering on. I didn’t really know what was going on. 

“Once we finally found out, it was kinda smooth sailing from there. For a little while, a couple months, it was a lot of what ifs, and we didn’t know what it was.”

The Phillies announced in June that Miller was experiencing discogenic pain and facet inflammation in the lumbar spine. He had a procedure called a radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints.

What Miller had was lower back discomfort, which is caused by a damaged or degenerated intervertebral disc in the spine. The treatment Miller received used controlled heat to destroy tissue by using radio waves to create a current that heats the small area of nerve tissue. The heat destroys that area of the nerve and stops it from sending pain signals to the brain.

Miller was out at least eight weeks, as the Phillies kept his status for a return to baseball close to the vest. He started getting back to baseball activities last month, hoping to get into a baseball game at some point this season.

“Just the fact that I’m back out here," Miller said. "You know, backs are tricky and they tend to linger. The fact that I’m playing this year — which I didn’t think I’d be doing a couple months ago — just tested how hard I worked and how much I worked to get back here."

On Friday, that goal was achieved. Miller hit a double in his first at-bat for Single-A Clearwater, his first game since September 18, 2025. It was a long 353 days.

What got Miller through his near year-long layoff

Mar 2, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Aidan Miller (81) signs autographs for fans before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays during spring training at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The long wait for Miller tested his patience to get back on a baseball field. He grew up in a baseball family, with his father, Jason Miller, getting drafted in the 24th round by the Texas Rangers in 1994. His older brother, Jackson Miller, was a second-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds in 2020.

Jackson never got past Single-A ball, dealing with a back injury that ended his baseball career. Aidan said his back injury was nothing like Jackson experienced, which is how he was able to get through his setback.

"He dealt with injuries his whole career. It was about three straight years in rehab and what I went through is nothing compared to what he went through," Miller said. "So having him to ask questions off of and look up to, and it made my process seem that much easier.”

What did Aidan ask Jackson?

“Just want to do, you know, day to day. You go to rehab. It’s only about two-and-a-half hours, then you have the whole day to really just find something else to do," Miller said. "While all my buddies are out here playing at all the levels and seeing the players I’ve played with in the past.

"You know, moving up to the big leagues, I think that was tough at first for me."

That's what hurt Miller the most, not being able to go out there and play baseball. He's getting to do that again, and he's grateful just to be getting that opportunity after all he's been through this year.

“Growing up my whole life, it’s all I’ve done," Miller said. "All I’ve known is baseball. I’ve never taken that long of a break from it...not playing.

"It was really tough at first, but I think I learned a ton in that process. It was really good for me. "

Thanks to witnessing what Jackson went through, Aidan knew what he had to do to even get to this point. Based on Jackson's experience, playing again wasn't a sure thing for Aidan -- even at 22 years old.

"It’s been a grind," Miller said. "Just trying to get my body healthy and play a full baseball game and feel comfortable doing it. I’ve learned a lot in this process and I’m just grateful to be back out here."

Now, Miller is back playing ball with his friends. That's what he cares about most.

“I’m excited to be with the boys again man," Miller said. "It’s just being in a locker room and shooting the crap with all the guys. I missed it.”