It is strange how the mind works. Yesterday, while doing some harvesting in our garden, I was thinking a bit about baseball and how much I miss minor league baseball. Several things ran through my mind such as the conversations AC and I had during the Loons championship year in 2016, the personal relationship I had with then Loons play-by-play announcer Chris Vosters, several players in the Dodgers minor league system including Zach McKinstry and without warning Aaron Miller came across my screen. His is a story like so many minor league players who are fine young men following the near impossible dream.
He had initially been selected by the Colorado Rockies in 2006 out of Channelview High School in Channelview, Texas. Rather than sign with the Rockies he wanted the, “college experience before turning professional”, and committed to Baylor University in Waco, Texas. During his minor league career he remained in contact with Baylor head coach Steve Smith. Perhaps he still does.
“Aaron was an extremely gifted player physically. He was just a physically powerful young man both on the mound and at the plate,” Smith recalled. “As a man of faith, Aaron was one of few words. But his actions spoke volumes as he dealt with the injuries, disappointments, and pressures of major college athletics. There was no panic in Aaron, which I believe was a testimony to his faith in the Lord.”
Miller noted his coaches at Baylor “really cared about us as much as people as they did as players.” In Waco, he attended University Baptist Church and was involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a campus Bible study.
“The biggest gift is somebody spending time with you. Your biggest luxury in life is the amount of time you have. Anybody who spends extra time to do something for me, really means a lot.”
For Miller, athletics were simply part of his university experience. Exactly a week after receiving All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches, he became the seventh student-athlete in Baylor baseball history to earn Academic All-America honors. A management and entrepreneurship major, he followed in the footsteps of those six other student-athletes including left-hander Pat Combs who pitched four years with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Considered to be a two-way power player Miller was selected by the Dodgers in the 2009 First Year Payer Draft with the 34th overall pick, a compensation pick for losing free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe to the Atlanta Braves. In his junior year on the mound with the Baylor Bears he went 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 games, with 65 strikeouts in 51 innings. His fastball sat in the low 90’s – touching 95 – and he had a slider that was developing into a plus pitch. As a hitter, he batted .310 with 12 homers and 47 RBI in 186 at-bats.
The Dodgers had to decide whether to draft the 6’3” 205 lb. prospect as a pitcher or a hitter. The decision was made to select the 21-year old left-handed Miller as a pitcher. Logan White, the Dodgers Assistant General Manager for Scouting at that time was impressed by his athleticism and decided to go the pitching route.
“Aaron Miller is certainly a big league prospect as a hitter and a player.” said White, “He hasn’t been able to focus on pitching all the time, though, and in our professional judgment we think he’s certainly got the best future to be a left-handed pitcher.”
Miller, a friend of Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw from their Texas high-school days, had worked out for the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and indicated he would sign quickly because he wanted to “get innings under my belt.” Upon learning he was drafted by the Dodgers Miller said:
“I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I was kind of crossing my fingers. I came home from L.A. yesterday and was really hoping that I would get picked up.”
After pitching 5.2 innings with the Arizona League Dodgers Miller reported to the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest Class A League. He experienced immediate success with the Loons pitching 30.1 innings in seven starts. He struck out 38 and posted an ERA of 2.08 and a WHIP of 1.055.
In 2010 he moved up to the Advanced-A Inland Empire 66ers and had another successful season. In 17 starts he pitched 101.2 innings with an ERA of 2.92 and a WHIP of 1.220. He struck out 99 and gave up only 76 hits.
Miller was limited to 34 innings in 2011 with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League posting an ERA of 3.97.
The following season he advanced to the AA-Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League. He pitched a career high 121.1 innings in 25 starts. Although he struck out 110, he walked 71 and finished the season with an ERA of 4.45. That was to be his last season as a pitcher.
In 2013 he began his career as a right fielder with the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League.
“This was something the organization has been talking about for close to a year,” said former Vice President for Player Development De Jon Watson. “His velocity had dropped, and he’s had some nagging injuries.
“He was a two-way player coming out of Baylor when we drafted him, and we liked what we saw in his bat when he pitched. We felt this was the right time to make the switch, given his age and his desire to continue pursuing his big league dream and help this organization.”
With the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2014 Aaron Miller had a good offensive year hitting .257 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI. He took home the California League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending Sunday, June 8 going 11-for-27 in seven games for the Quakes, hitting .407/.467/.852 with three home runs and three doubles during the week, with 10 RBI.
Following the regular season Miller traveled to Australia to play with the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League. In 36 games with the Bite he had 12 home runs and 33 RBI while hitting .389, all tops in the league. He was also the league leader in OBP, SLG and OPS. His 37 runs and 57 hits were both second in the league behind only Brandon Dickson his 2014 teammate from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
For his play in Australia Miller was recognized with the Sambat Champion Slugger of the Year Award and also the Helms Award as the League MVP. He was back in the United States when the awards were presented, and he accepted both of them humbly via email video.
On March 22, 2015 came the announcement that the then 27-year old Miller had retired. In his video feed to his Australian teammates he expressed appreciation for his new found life time friends and thanked God for the opportunity to have “played this amazing game”.
I don’t know what Aaron Miller and his wife who accompanied him to Australia are doing now but I do know this young man who has learned so much from baseball – which is a hard teacher – will achieve success at whatever he does.
“I always have that driving force to keep moving forward. I want my talent and my ability to take me wherever it goes,” he said. “I want to be satisfied with whatever I am able to do and at the end of the day, walk away and say I did my best.”
Well done Aaron and thanks for being a positive example with your hard work and dedication for so many young players who are facing the same challenges in this “amazing game.”
I can honestly say I do not remember this young man, and I feel worse for not knowing. He seems to me the kind of young man that you would love to have on your team. Nice write up Harold.
I followed his career as I do with so many others. I always felt the Dodgers development department mishandled Aaron’s career. That is, first selecting him as a pitcher and then waiting far too long to have him converted back as a hitter. He most likely did not see it that way.
The Dodgers second pick in the 2009 draft was also a two-way college player, Blake Smith from the University of California – Berkley. Dodgers used Smith as a position player for 4 years, then moved him to pitcher.
I do remember that also SCB. Blake did make it to MLB with a few innings with the White Sox.
did not realize that he actually had a cup of coffee in the majors — thanks. I have followed the Dodgers minor league prospects for 60+ years, dating back to The Sporting News including weekly updates on minor league stats.
Great writeup Harold. I hope you or someone else here will find some information on what Aaron is doing these days. Sounds like the type of guy who will do fine outside of baseball but it would be interesting to find out how his story has evolved.
Very nice DC. Thank you. It would be interesting to see what and how Aaron Miller is doing now. And I wonder how Clayton’s high school friend would have done with the Dodgers if they had not switched him from a pitcher to a fielder and hitter when they did. He might have been at USC with the rest of the squad today.
STB and DBM, Aaron Miller is presently the Senior Director of CX Strategy & Execution at ADT in Boca Raton, Florida.
Great article from the archives Harold. Thank you.
Thank you 2D2.
Thanks 2d2. At least now I know that if I ever interact with ADT in Boca Raton I’ll have an excellent customer experience.
Nice, genuine, feel good article.
DUCK! Is this the world famous Dodgers fan Blueduck? If yes, it is great to hear from you!
New fashioned double header tonight.
Alas, I lament the forgotten twilight doubleheader that the Bosox used to play where you got two games for the price of one!
Back in the 50’s many (most?) teams played doubleheaders on Sunday afternoons.
Blue Jays acquired Taijuan Walker from the Mariners for a player currently not on the 60 man. I thought that the player had to be on the 60 man player pool to be eligible to be traded. I guess the MLB powers figured that the PTBNL tag was a loophole that teams used to go around the rule, they decided to forget about the rule altogether. I do not know why there was that rule to begin with. Toronto is the current #8 seed that needs pitching, so it appears that this is a good deal for them for this year.
Great job DC.. I was wondering about this kid and whether he stayed in Australia… A lil young to call it a wrap, but we’ll see…
Jeff, kudos to you on a great ending yesterday!!!
Play ball…
Oops. Buehler to IL with a blister on his hand.
White recalled.
Buehler was scheduled to start today.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 27, 2020
0
DODGERS RECALL RHP MITCH WHITE
RHP WALKER BUEHLER PLACED ON THE 10-DAY IL
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have recalled right-handed pitcher Mitch White and placed Walker Buehler on the 10-day injured list with a blister on his right hand, retroactive to August 23.
White, 25, joins the Dodgers active roster for the second time this season after being placed on the 40-man roster on November 20, 2019. He did not appear in a game in his last stint with the club and his next game will be his MLB debut. The San Jose, CA native has been with the Dodgers four seasons, across five different levels, posting a 14-15 record with a 3.97 ERA (130 ER/294.2 IP) and 311 strikeouts. Last season, he split the season between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, going a combined 4-6 with a 5.09 ERA (53 ER/93.2 IP) and 105 strikeouts. He was originally selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Santa Clara University.
Buehler, 26, heads to the injured list for the first time this season after turning in his best outing of the campaign on Friday, in which he tossed 6.0 innings, allowed one run and struck out 11 in a win against the Rockies. On the season, he is 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA (12 ER/25.0 IP) and 28 strikeouts. In parts of four Major League seasons, he is a combined 24-9 with a 3.20 ERA (126 ER/354.0 IP) and 406 strikeouts in 67 games (58 starts). Last season he set career marks, going 14-4 with a 3.26 ERA (66 ER/182.1 IP) and 215 strikeouts in 30 starts. The 2019 All-Star was originally selected by the Dodgers in the first round (24th overall) of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.
With Buehler on the il how soon before Gray makes a start? Will White be getting a start today? We need some innings eaters and fast.
Right, so Kersh starts the 7 inning game 1 today. No word on who starts game 2 yet
Any word on who the Dodgers will add as its 27th player for the doubleheader today? Perhaps Keibert Ruiz?
It would be nice to see Lux but I guess it will be another pitcher.
The Dodgers have no choice but to rely on their young arms now: Gonsolin, May, White, and Gray. Alex Wood still seems iffy, Buehler is down, Strip hasn’t been effectively lately. Bring on the Young Guns! We need them to at least eat up some innings to give the bullpen some rest. If the SPs can get us 5-6 innings and keep things close, the offense and relief pitching should get us there. Besides, it’s fun to see the new generation of pitchers coming up. We know what we get with Strip and Wood. With the Young Guns, we’ve only seen glimpses of what they are capable of. So bring it on! Will AF trade for a starting pitcher? I doubt very seriously that he will trade top prospects for one, if experience is any guide. Alex Verdugo was the exception. He would need to get someone of very high value in return. I don’t know who would justify it.
Buehler’s placement is retroactive to Aug 23rd, which means he will miss one start. He can return on the 1st of September.
Alana says the Game 2 starter will depend on how game 1 goes. Meaning bullpen game coming up! Kersh can really help out by going 6-7 in the first game.
Line up is the same one posted prior to the postponement yesterday. Joc is the DH, hitting 8th, Barnes is catching.
I have come to expect Bobby posting the days lineups:
Mookie – RF
Corey – SS
JT – 3B
Belli – CF
AJ – LF
Max – 1B
CT3 – 2B
Joc – DH
Barnes – C
Kershaw – P
I apologize for my failures.
No need. We all fail sometime or another
Good to see the Dodgers stand with Mookie. No matter what you think of all this I thought the Cubs taking the field without Heyward had a bad look.
Home Plate Umpire not started well.
Item 1. This ump sux. Item 2. Does anyone on this team know how to PROTECT THE PLATE? Pitiful.
He’s got an enormous zone
I totally concur with that. Some outstanding defense so far from Belli and Pollock, otherwise this would not be a 1-0 game.
I’m watching the Giants feed. Even they’re discussing how this ump tends to give the low strike.
And as others have said before, they really are great to listen to. No homerism, just baseball talk.
You mean like when they draw on Tommy Lasorda’s face. They have their share of homerism. I’ve listened to them plenty of times.
The Dodgers have 11/12 relievers and had yesterday off. I’m sure the bullpen is fine.
We need Joc Pederson to get going with the bat.
Joc got an infield single that he had to bust butt to beat. That is the kind of baseball I have been waiting to see him play. And then Barnes gets a clutch two run double.
Yep right after I said that about Joc he gets a hit. My brain connected with his I guess. LOL.
I ask and I shall receive.
I guess I have officially joined the Austin Barnes “tail between my legs” fan club! Congrats to the young man for battling back from such a miserable start!
agree with you totally. Very happy for him (and us)
Bear, Sborz finally got his call, and did very well thank you.
I was watching. Got to feel good for the guy. I actually saw him pitch at Rancho a few years back. He did a great job that night in a Quakes win. Anyone want to get rid of Pollock now???? Great defense this first game. Was a joy to watch. Congrats to Mookie on his 1000th hit.
Now that’s more like it! Can’t believe a Gonsolin didn’t get the call to start game two!
Gonsolin pitched Monday in the Taxi Squad game. Don’t remember the total number of pitches off the top of my head but enough to keep him from pitching until this weekend
(looked it up – 99 pitches – edit is my friend)
Great game Kersh. Now we have 17 guys ready to get this sweep. I hope Mitch White gets the start (if nothing more than showcase his talents for a trade)
He did do well, AC. I thought he was lights out. Hope we see him again soon.
Caleb Ferguson will start Game 2
Lux activated as 29th player for the 2nd game
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 27, 2019
DODGERS RECALL IF GAVIN LUX
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have added Gavin Lux as their 29th man for Game 2 of the doubleheader.
Lux, 22, will be recalled for the first time this season after playing in 23 games last year for the Dodgers. In those contests, he batted .240 (18-for-75) with two homers and nine RBI. Prior to joining the Dodgers, the Kenosha, WI native split time between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting a combined .347 (159-for-523) with 26 homers and 76 RBI in 113 games. He was named the 2019 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year by the Dodgers organization, as well as the 2019 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America after the season. He has been with the Dodgers organization since being drafted in the first round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft from Indian Trail High School. In four minor league seasons, across five levels, he has hit a combined .305 (481-for-1801) with 48 homers and 193 RBI.
Game 2 of the doubleheader will start at 4:05 p.m. PT.
Congratualtions to Mookie Betts and his 1,000 MLB hit.
Game 2:
Mookie
Seager
JT (DH)
Belly (1b)
Muncy (3b)
Joc
Smith
Lux
Kike (CF)
Attaway Bobby. Back on track! But why have you delayed the start of the 2nd game?
Someone (who shall remain nameless) had to go #2
Who would have thought that past the half way point of the “season” Mookie would be batting .294 and Barnes .293? Great job by Barnes. I hope he can keep it up.
While Kershaw is going to the Hall of Fame, many have been ready to write him off for the past few years.
6 more shutout innings, 4 – 1 in 5 starts with a 1.80 ERA and a WHIP of .77. So here’s the question:
Is there anyone else that the Dodgers will be able to rely on for a star type performance? Gonsolin has 1, so does Buehler.
That’s why Kershaw is Kershaw; that’s why they need another starter for the post-season. It will be a tough get – most teams see themselves as buyers at the deadline and it doesn’t make sense to overpay, but I’m not comfortable with the guys they have going into the postseason.
You and I consistently agree on this.
In 2 years, Buehler Urias and May are going to be a DOMINANT playoff staff. But for 2020, it’s less certain that Urias and May are ready for that role.
May might be that guy, but I have some very serious doubts about Urias.
Treinen could be THE difference maker come October!
I love beating the Giants on 2 shutouts in the same day!
A rare treat.
Lux has been taken off the roster and put back on the taxi squad for the Rangers series. He really didn’t look any better than he did before they sent him down in the first place. He looks like he’s still not quite ready. Maybe next time it should be Zach Mac’s turn.
I thought the same thing. And then I thought of AC saying several years ago he wanted Bo Bichette over Lux. And as much as I’ve supported Lux, even proclaiming that he’d be the last Dodger ever to wear #9 (I may have eaten a nice edible about 2 hours before saying that), I wonder now how if we clearly made a mistake by not taking Bo Bichette.
Hopefully I”m worried for nothing
He was 0 for 3. Big deal. Kike is hitting .215. Let Lux play.
I am tired of Kike’s act. He struck out twice,after hitting for Joc, who had 3 hits on the day, and although his glove is excellent, his hitting has regressed since opening day. Lux made a couple of good plays, which was not the case in the exhibitions, and he was facing a pretty good pitcher. Kike also was 0-5 on the day with 3 K’s., Pederson is now hitting .218, and Kike, .213
It’s time to make Barnes our second baseman.