Brad Miller (baseball)

Bradley Austin Miller (born October 18, 1989) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals.

Brad Miller
Miller with the Tampa Bay Rays
Free agent
Designated Hitter / Infielder
Born: (1989-10-18) October 18, 1989
Orlando, Florida
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 28, 2013, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.240
Home runs95
Runs batted in318
Teams

Miller played college baseball for the Clemson Tigers, with whom he won the Brooks Wallace Award as the top shortstop in college baseball. The Mariners selected Miller in the second round, with the 62nd overall selection, of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, and he made his major league debut in 2013. Known for his versatility, Miller has also seen time as an outfielder.

Amateur career

Miller was born in Orlando, Florida, and grew up in Windermere, Florida.[1][2] His father Steve played college baseball for the University of Northern Iowa.[1]

He attended Olympia High School in Orlando.[1] As a sophomore he hit .382 with a .500 on-base percentage, two homers, and 28 RBIs. As a junior, he hit .420 with a .560 on-base percentage, six homers, and 31 RBIs and was first-team All-Central Florida. Out of high school, the Texas Rangers selected Miller in the 39th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft.

He instead opted to attend Clemson University. While playing for the Clemson Tigers baseball team, Miller was selected to the 2009 and 2010 Collegiate National Teams, appearing in the 2009 World Baseball Challenge, and the 2010 World University Baseball Championship.[3] In his junior year he won the 2011 Brooks Wallace Award as the top college baseball shortstop in the nation, after leading the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in batting average (.395) and on-base percentage (.498), and was named a Louisville Slugger First-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.[4][5][6] He was also named the ACC Player of the Year.[7]

Professional career

Minor leagues

The Seattle Mariners selected Miller in the second round, with the 62nd overall selection, of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, and he signed for a $750,000 signing bonus.[8][9] In 2012, while playing for Seattle’s Class A-Advanced California League High Desert Mavericks, he posted a slash line of .339 (9th in the league)/.412 (7th)/.524, with 89 runs (7th) and 33 doubles (3rd), and was the April 16 Player of the Week, a mid-season All Star, and an MiLB.com Organization All Star.[10][11] In 2013 he was named a Player of the Week on April 15 for the Jackson Generals in the Southern League for whom he batted .294 (9th in the league)/.379/.471, an All-Star Futures Game selection for the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League for whom he batted .356/.426/.596, and was again an MiLB.com Organization All Star.[11]

Seattle Mariners

Miller made his MLB debut with the Mariners on June 28, 2013. On July 21 he was voted the AL Player of the Week.[12] Miller hit his first grand slam on September 28 in a game in which he hit two home runs. In 76 games, he hit .265/.318/.418, with six triples (6th in the AL), eight home runs, 36 runs batted in (RBIs), and a career-high 13 stolen bases, in 306 at bats.[12]

Miller opened the 2014 season as the Mariners' starting shortstop. He was ineffective offensively, hitting just .221/.288/.365, with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs, in 367 at bats, in 123 games.[13]

During spring training of 2015, Miller competed with Chris Taylor to become the Mariners' starting shortstop. Taylor broke his wrist during the competition, and Miller became the starter by default.[14] When the Mariners promoted Taylor to the majors in May, they made Taylor the starting shortstop and indicated that Miller would play in a "super utility role", similar to that of Ben Zobrist.[15] On May 17, he won his second AL Player of the Week Award.[13] For the season, Miller hit .258/.329/.402, with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs, in 438 at bats, in 144 games played.[13]

Tampa Bay Rays

On November 5, 2015, the Mariners traded Miller, Logan Morrison, and Danny Farquhar to the Tampa Bay Rays for Nate Karns, C. J. Riefenhauser, and Boog Powell.[16] Midway through the season, Miller made the move from shortstop to first base. He finished his 2016 season batting .243/.304/.482, with career-highs in home runs (30), RBIs (81), and runs scored (73), and was 5th in the AL with six triples, in 548 at bats.[13]

After trading Logan Forsythe, the Rays announced that Miller would move to second base for the 2017 season. During the 2017 season, he was the opening day starter at second base, his third main position with the club in one year. On May 16, Miller reported pain in his lower left abdomen, and on May 18 the Rays placed him on the 10-day disabled list.[17] He missed about one third of the 2017 season on the DL due to complications. Miller would play the field predominately to give Tim Beckham the night off, seeing most of his time as the designated hitter, moving the All-Star DH Corey Dickerson to left field. He ended the 2017 season hitting a career-low .201/.327/.337 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs, in 338 at bats, in 110 games.[13]

Miller was designated for assignment by the Rays on June 7, 2018, while hitting .256/.322/.429, with 5 home runs, and 21 RBIs, in 156 at bats.[18]

Milwaukee Brewers

On June 10, 2018, the Rays traded Miller to the Milwaukee Brewers for first baseman/outfielder Ji-man Choi. Miller was optioned to the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox later that day, for whom he played eight games.[19] He was designated for assignment on July 28 in order to make room for newly acquired infielder Mike Moustakas on the active roster, and was released on July 31, 2018.[20] With Milwaukee in 2018 he batted .230/.288/.378 with 2 home runs and 8 RBIs in 74 at bats.[13]

After Miller was released he had microfracture surgery and right hip labrum surgery to address an injury he had initially suffered in April 2017, and was on crutches for eight weeks.[21]

Cleveland Indians

Miller signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 28, 2019.[22] He opted out of his contract and became a free agent on March 21.[23]

Miller signed a major league contract with the Cleveland Indians on March 24.[24] The Indians designated him for assignment on April 15.[25] After clearing waivers, Miller elected free agency on April 17.[26] With Cleveland in 2019 he batted .250/.325/.417 with one home run and four RBIs in 36 at bats.[13]

New York Yankees

On April 22, 2019, Miller signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees.[27] With the Yankees' AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the International League in 2019, he batted .294/.399/.596 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs in 136 at bats in 41 games.[28]

Philadelphia Phillies

Miller was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies from the New York Yankees for cash considerations on June 13, 2019.[29][28] In September, Miller became the first Phillies player with three multi-home run games in a nine-game span in team history.[30] Playing for the Phillies in 2019 he batted .263/.331/.610 with 12 home runs and 21 RBIs in 118 at bats, as he appeared in 35 games as a pinch hitter, 19 games at third base, 16 games in left field, and one game each at shortstop, in right field, and as a pinch runner.[31]

St. Louis Cardinals

On February 12, 2020, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Miller to a 1-year contract worth $2 million.[32]

References
  1. Brad Miller Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com
  2. Sonnone, Brendan (August 17, 2013). "Infielders Brad Miller and Nick Franklin bring Central Florida flair to Seattle Mariners". orlandosentinel.com. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  3. "KSU's Martini Invited To 2010 Collegiate National Team Trials". Wibw.com. July 1, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  4. June 2, 2011 "Clemson's Brad Miller is first team All-American"
  5. "Brad Miller wins Brooks Wallace Shortstop-of-the-Year Award" tigernet.com
  6. "Brad Miller Wins Brooks Wallace Shortstop-of-the-Year Award - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC". Live5News.com. July 4, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  7. "Scout.com: Miller named ACC Player of the Year". Maryland.scout.com. May 23, 2011. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  8. Brad Miller - The Baseball Cube
  9. "Miller has mom to thank for baseball trips as a kid" Adam Lewis May 9, 2014 MLB.com
  10. "2012 California League Batting Leaders" Baseball-Reference.com
  11. Brad Miller Stats, Highlights, Bio | MiLB.com Stats MiLB.com
  12. Brad Miller Stats Baseball-Reference.com
  13. Brad Miller Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com
  14. "Chris Taylor breaks wrist, leaving Mariners shortstop job to Brad Miller". Yahoo Sports. March 14, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  15. Dutton, Bob (May 5, 2015). "Mariners notebook: Miller says he's 'pretty frustrated' at shift in roles". thenewstribune.com. Tacoma News Tribune. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  16. Stecker, Brent (November 5, 2015). "Mariners send Brad Miller, Logan Morrison to Rays in 6-player trade". mynorthwest.com. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  17. "Brad Miller Injuries: Signings, Trades & more". FoxSports.com. Fox Sports. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  18. "Tampa Bay Rays designated infielder Brad Miller for assignment and medically cleared pitching coach Kyle Snyder to rejoin the team". ESPN. June 7, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  19. Milwaukee Brewers (Verified Twitter account) (June 10, 2018). "The #Brewers have acquired INF Brad Miller and cash from Tampa Bay in exchange for 1B/OF Ji-Man Choi. Miller has been optioned to Triple-A @skysox". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  20. Downing, Kyle (July 28, 2018). "Brewers Designate Brad Miller". mlbtraderumors.com. MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  21. Miller’s experience, versatility prove good fit for SWB - Sports - Citizens' Voice
  22. Todd, Jeff (February 28, 2019). "Dodgers To Sign Brad Miller". mlbtraderumors.com. MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  23. Todd, Jeff (March 21, 2019). "Brad Miller Opts Out Of Contract With Dodgers". mlbtraderumors.com. MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  24. Hoynes, Paul (March 24, 2019). "Cleveland Indians sign free agent infielder Brad Miller to fill hole at second base". Cleveland.com.
  25. "Indians activate Kipnis; send Lindor on rehab assignment". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. April 15, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  26. Todd, Jeff (April 17, 2019). "Brad Miller Elects Free Agency". mlbtraderumors.com. MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  27. Hoch, Bryan (May 24, 2018). "Brad Miller joins Yankees on Minors deal". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  28. "Phillies trade for INF Brad Miller from Yankees for cash considerations". nbcsports.com. NBC Sports Philadelphia. June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  29. Zolecki, Todd (June 13, 2019). "Miller joins Phillies as left-handed bat". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  30. "Phillies Finish Season .500 As Brad Miller Makes Team History, Gabe Kapler's Seat Gets Hotter – CBS Philly". Philadelphia.cbslocal.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  31. "Brad Miller Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  32. https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinals-add-to-infield-depth-by-signing-lefthanded-hitting-brad/article_931d37c8-9f4d-57fa-a672-a9982fba281a.html
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