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    Aiden Miller (back) ready for game action

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    PHI Shortstop #87
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    Aidan Miller is slated to play shortstop Saturday for Low-A Clearwater in his first game action this year.

    Miller emerged as one of baseball’s best prospects last year, but his back has been a problem throughout 2026, resulting in a procedure in June. As long as things go well over the next couple of weeks, he’ll be assigned to the Arizona Fall League in order to get more at-bats,
Gasser delivers for Brewers in Game 3 win
Eric Samulski and James Schiano size up Robert Gasser's impressive NLCS Game 3 performance, and whether his hot streak means he's a future ace in the making.

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  • PHI Shortstop #87
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    Miller is making up for lost time by getting some work in at third base in the fall’s prospect finishing school. He’s hitting .500 (6-for-12) with one steal through four games this fall. The 22-year-old former first-round pick missed most of this past season due to a lingering back issue that prevented him from making his Double-A debut until early September. He’s one of the more challenging prospects to forecast from a fantasy perspective after missing nearly an entire year to injury. He possesses an extremely intriguing power and speed blend that should make him an impactful fantasy contributor in the near future.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Miller struggled with a back injury in spring training and eventually had to undergo surgery back in June. He began his rehab assignment in Low-A back on September fourth and will now move up to Double-A. He’s not likely to get any MLB at-bats this season, but if he can remain healthy throughout the remainder of the minor league season, he could fight for a lineup spot in 2027.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    The procedure is called a radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints, which uses controlled heat to disrupt sensory nerves that are transmitting pain signals to the inflamed spinal joints. All of that sounds rather intense, but Miller will apparently be fully shut down for just one week, then return to rehab with the goal of appearing in minor league games in 6-8 weeks.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Not good. Miller has been pulled back from swinging a bat and is back to rehabbing a lingering back issue that he’s been dealing with since spring training. There is no timetable for Philadelphia’s top prospect to return to game action. It’s starting to feel like a lost season for Miller and the lost development time certainly will adversely impact his timeline to the majors.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Miller has resumed taking swings after recurring back soreness prevented him taking part in baseball activities since late February. The 21-year-old top prospect remains without a return timeline and is far off from getting back into minor league game action. However, this latest development qualifies as a step in the right direction. The big concern is whether Miller will require surgery if he’s still experiencing back soreness when he begins ramping up his level of activity.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Miller has been cleared to begin “rotational exercises” but isn’t swinging yet. It’s a confusing situation since Phillies president Dave Dombrowski told reporters last week that Miller had resumed swinging a bat. The 21-year-old top prospect is one of the more intriguing power/speed combo shortstops in the entire minors but he’s been ostensibly on the shelf since early on in spring training due to a mysterious back issue. It doesn’t sound like he’s close to returning to game action.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Miller had been shut down due to ongoing lower back soreness that the Phillies acknowledged is an “ongoing issue.” That’s a bit worrisome for the 21-year-old prospect, but it’s nice to see that he has begun swinging a bat again. The Phillies are obviously taking things very slowly with their top prospect, but there is still some optimism that he will debut in Philadelphia at some point this season.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Miller was shut down in spring training with lower back soreness and the issue apparently hasn’t improved to the point that he can resume swinging a bat. The 21-year-old shortstop remains on the minor league injured list and doesn’t appear close to making his season debut.
  • PHI Shortstop #3
    He played one game for the Diamondbacks last season and wound up with the Nationals in spring training. Alcántara will probably help fill in for Aidan Miller at shortstop at Triple-A Lehigh Valley while Miller deals with a sore back that has him on the minor league injured list.
  • PHI Shortstop #87
    Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that Miller no longer feels any pain, so the team “will continue to increase his activities, which he’s felt good with so far.” However, given that Miller is their top prospect, they are also “going to be very careful. Any time you’re dealing with back issues, you’ve got to be careful.” This is especially true for Miller, who even had some back issues when he was drafted in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Dombrowski said there is no specific timeline for Miller’s return, but it seems like the 21-year-old should be able to take the field at some point in April and then will hopefully remain healthy enough to push for a call-up later in the season.

Rotoworld

  • MIN Pitching Coach
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    Twins hired Brian Reith as their new pitching coach.

    The 48-year-old Reith played 13 years of professional baseball, including three in the big leagues with the Reds as a reliever. He has spent the past five seasons as the pitching coach for Triple-A Durham in the Rays’ organization. This will be Reith’s first stint on a major league coaching staff, and it will be interesting to see what, if any, organizational approaches he brings over from Tampa Bay, where he coached current Twins starters Taj Bradley and Joe Ryan.
  • BAL Starting Pitcher #37
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    Cade Povich had surgery on Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his elbow.

    Povich was allegedly “pitching through significant pain down the stretch.” He was optioned to the minors in the middle of September after posting a 4.38 ERA in 37 MLB innings. Povich is expected to be ready for spring training, and he has a shot at earning a spot in the starting rotation.
  • DET Starting Pitcher #52
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    Troy Melton (arm fatigue) is “beginning a normal offseason workout routine.”

    Melton was placed on the injured list on September 21st with right arm fatigue and had reportedly been dealing with an “achy” arm for a few weeks. Unsurprisingly, that coincided with a major dip in production from the 25-year-old. The Tigers said that “Melton’s medical evaluation found no issues,” and he will head into the offseason as a fully healthy pitcher with a normal routine. This was Melton’s largest MLB sample yet, but he did throw 120 innings split between the minors and majors last season, so it’s at least a little concerning that his arm didn’t feel right at the end of the year. He will be a name to monitor in spring training.
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    Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he told Trea Turner that he will start at shortstop in 2027, but “he must play well there to stay there.”

    By many metrics, Turner was one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball in 2026. While 2026 was easily the worst defensive season of his career and could be an outlier, Turner has had one positive Defensive Runs Saved season since 2021 and no positive seasons by Outs Above Average since 2019. The Phillies could move Bryson Stott to shortstop and try Turner at second base if they were eventually looking to make a defensive change.
  • PHI Relief Pitcher #37
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    Phillies re-signed LHP Tim Mayza to a one-year contract.

    Mayza, who would have become a free agent after the World Series, pitched to a 3.48 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 64/18 K/BB ratio in 67 1/3 innings this season. He will remain a key piece in the bridge to Jhoan Duran in 2027.
  • PHI Third Base Coach
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    Phillies hired former Mets manager Carlos Mendoza as third-base and infield coach.

    Mendoza was let go by the Mets at the end of June after posting a 34-47 record to start the season. He was 206-199 (.509 winning percentage) in his two-plus years with the Mets, but the team fell short of expectations. He had a sterling reputation as a coach with the Yankes prior to taking the Mets job and is a strong addition to the Phillies staff.
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    Richie Palacios is starting at second base and batting eighth for Game 3 of the ALCS against the Guardians.

    Palacios sat the first two games with Cleveland throwing left-handed pitchers in both. Ben Williamson will not shift back to the bench, but the rest of the Rays’ lineup remains the same.
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    Patrick Bailey is starting behind the dish and batting seventh in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Rays on Thursday.

    Bailey was not in the starting lineup for Game 2, but he drew a walk as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. The 27-year-old has reached a new offensive height with a more pull-centric approach in Cleveland. He has gone 7-for-20 with two home runs, five RBI, and a 5/2 K/BB ratio so far this postseason.
  • LAD 2nd Baseman #26
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    The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reports that the Phillies “reached out to Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez...to gauge their interest in the [manager] job.”

    Both players “politely declined,” and the Phillies went on to hire Don Mattingly to a two-year deal. According to Stark’s sources, “the Phillies’ interest was serious enough that the team’s president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, formally requested permission from the Los Angeles Dodgers to contact Utley and Ibanez, both of whom work for the team.” That makes three known candidates, along with Alex Cora, who turned down the opportunity before the team went back to Mattingly.
  • MIL 1st Baseman #9
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    Jake Bauers hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Brewers topped the Dodgers 6-2 in Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday.

    Bauers had another long at-bat that saw him foul off several middle-middle pitches before pulverizing a 3-2 cookie from Blake Snell to give the Brewers the 3-2 lead. The 31-year-old veteran has his first homer of the postseason, but he’s been excellent in the playoffs thus far while driving in three runs. Bauers and the Brewers are now one win away from their first trip to the World Series as a National League team, and can reach that accomplishment with a win Thursday in Game 4.
    - Christopher Crawford