Phillies’ top pick Aidan Miller finds inspiration in his brother, who is chasing his own MLB dream

Miller says he owes his success to his older sibling, Jackson, a second-round pick of the Reds, whose pro career has been full of setbacks — and perseverance.

From left: Jackson Miller with Aidan and sister Olivia when Aidan was drafted by the Phillies in July.Read moreCourtesy Aidan Miller

by Alex Coffey

Published Aug. 17, 2023, 4:53 p.m. ET

Aidan Miller sat on the top step of the Phillies’ dugout to speak to a group of reporters a few weeks ago. It was his first media availability since he’d been selected with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2023 MLB draft. A reporter asked him for his favorite ballplayers.

“My brother, who plays for the Reds, Jackson Miller,” Aidan, 19, said. “Bryce Harper and Bo Bichette. I’d say those are my three.”

Harper and Bichette are familiar names to even the most casual baseball fan. Jackson Miller is not. He was drafted in the second round by the Reds in 2020, and had played in only four games before Monday, when he resumed his minor league career. After losing the 2020 season to COVID-19, Jackson was told he needed sports hernia surgery. In spring training of 2022, he learned he had to get the same surgery on the other side of his body.

Shortly after that, his doctors found a tear in his right shoulder. Jackson, 19 at the time, rehabbed his hernia just so he could undergo surgery on his posterior labrum. And as if that wasn’t enough, in the midst of his rehab process, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Because of the disease, his body did not heal as well as it could have, which set back his rehab.

It was a difficult time. Jackson, a catching prospect, saw his friends climbing through the ranks while he was stuck at the minor league complex in Arizona. He’d never been injured in his life, and now, with a professional baseball career on the line, he was weathering three injuries along with one life-altering diagnosis.

Aidan made sure to check in on his brother. He talked to him about video games, or cars, or life at home in Florida. Anything to take his mind off the game he wasn’t able to play. He found inspiration in how Jackson handled the two-year-long process. His brother was calm and collected, handling the ups and downs with an even keel. It reminded Aidan of how Jackson approached the game. It was a quality he admired.

“Early in high school, I used to be a little more wild, a little more flashy, doing a [Juan] Soto shuffle, things like that,” Aidan said. “Getting in trouble with umpires. And he never really did. So, I decided I was going to do exactly what he does.”

That goes for the rehab process, too. A few months ago, Aidan broke the hamate bone in his hand.The timing was not ideal. He had to miss most of his senior season of high school, and he had just started meeting with big league teams. It was unclear how it would impact his draft standing. But like Aidan checked in on Jackson, Jackson checked in on Aidan.

He reminded his brother not to pay too much attention to rankings or teams or colleges. The most important thing was his rehab. He urged Aidan not to rush through anything.

“I’ve learned a lot in how he’s dealt with it,” Aidan said. “How he came back from his injury. I think I’ve learned how to deal with the whole injury process from him.”

Jennifer and Jason Miller said their sons are each other’s biggest fans. When Jackson started playing AAU baseball at age 8, Aidan tagged along to games. He played catch on the sideline or sneaked into the dugout.

They played alongside each other in high school for a few weeks in 2020, before the pandemic canceled the rest of their season. They batted 1-2 in the lineup. Jackson spent that year telling anyone who would listen that his brother would be the No. 1 pick someday. He decided to show him around the weight room.

For about a month, Jackson started to wake up Aidan at 5 a.m.

“Hey, we’re going to the YMCA,” Jackson told him. “If you want to go pro, you need to get bigger.”

“I couldn’t even do a push-up back then,” Aidan said. “We still laugh about that. It’s crazy to think that that was where I was a couple of years ago. I’m lucky he busted my butt about it.”

When Jackson returned home from Arizona after his first stint rehabbing with the Reds, he saw a new Aidan.

“He was towering over me,” the 6-foot Jackson said of the now 6-2, 205-pound Aidan.

Aidan is a power-hitting shortstop who bats from the right side, and Jackson, 21, is a left-handed-hitting catcher who hits for average. They profile differently as players, but they give each other hitting tips from time to time. When Jackson arrived in Arizona, he told his parents to FaceTime him during Aidan’s games so he could watch his brother’s at-bats. He had his mother hold the phone up close to the fence. They talked about the games later that night. They did this throughout Aidan’s sophomore and junior seasons.

“He pretty much showed me the ropes with everything,” Aidan said. “Weight room, batting cages, how to cope with a bad game, how to handle a good game, how to handle rehab. By the time I was drafted, I was prepped.”

The Reds let Jackson fly home for Aidan’s draft night in July. He was pacing the room and said he was more nervous for his brother’s draft than he was for his own. Aidan was grateful that Jackson was there. It felt fitting.

“I owe my success to him,” Aidan said. “He’s the reason I’m playing baseball.”