Aidan Miller helped Reading win the Eastern League. (Ty Daubert/Phillies Nation)
READING, Pa. — Aidan Miller was still wearing his uniform pants and a red sleeve on his right arm when he hopped shirtless into the pool just beyond the fence in right field at FirstEnergy Stadium. The infielder cheered. He yelled at outfielder Dante Nori to get back in the water. He splashed teammates, coaches, employees and reporters. At the end of a tough season, Miller had a wide smile as Reading Fightin Phils players enjoyed their bubbly celebration.
After missing the first five months of the year with a back injury, Miller returned to action in September. He played one game for Single-A Clearwater, then joined Double-A Reading for the stretch run and postseason. On Tuesday night, with the help of some key contributions from Miller, the Fightins defeated the Erie SeaWolves 13-4 to win Game 2 of a best-of-three championship series to clinch their first outright Eastern League title since 1995.
With the way it all played out, the victory seemed like it had a bit of extra significance for Miller.
“When the season starts, it’s all our goals,” Miller said of winning a championship. “So being in rehab all year and then getting to be a part of this at the end just makes it so much sweeter.”
Miller, a first-round draft pick in 2023 and Philadelphia’s top hitting prospect, spent most of the 2025 season with the Fightins before reaching Triple-A Lehigh Valley to close out the campaign. He likely would have begun this year with the IronPigs, but he was shut down before even appearing in a spring training game. On June 3, the Phillies announced that Miller would undergo radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints, a nonsurgical procedure that was supposed to keep him out for six to eight weeks.
Thirteen weeks later, on Sept. 5, Miller was reinstated from the injured list and sent to Clearwater to make his season debut. He was bumped up to Reading after one game. He played three games during the final series of the regular season, and the Fightins earned a postseason berth with a 40-28 second-half record. Miller appeared in all four playoff games for Reading, and he felt healthy doing so.
“I feel great,” Miller said Tuesday afternoon. “The body feels amazing. It’s in a really, really good spot. I’m knocking the rust off playing, getting back and getting my feet wet again out there. It’s been good. I’m starting to really get back into the groove of baseball, and I think playing for a championship helps that.”
The 22-year-old went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and three runs scored in Reading’s blowout Game 2 win. With the team trailing by two early, he drove in Nori with a double down the line and later scored on a wild pitch. He made an error that allowed a run in the next inning, but he made up for it with another hit in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The right-handed hitter was on base when catcher Caleb Ricketts hit the go-ahead grand slam before Reading ran away with it. Miller was on the field as the Fightins closed out the series and season.
“We’re very happy for him,” Reading manager Al Pedrique said, “and he showed the makeup, what he’s made of. He wasn’t with the team. He was almost out a year without playing, and finally he got back. He got healthy. Once he stepped in the clubhouse, the whole team was excited about him, because we knew what he went through. I managed him last year. He’s a great kid, and we’re very happy that he had the opportunity to be part of this championship.”
Miller said he knew during his recovery that he’d be able to play at some point before the season was over, and he “fought” to be ready to rejoin the Fightins for the playoffs. He went 4-for-13 in the Eastern League postseason as Reading swept the competition.
“It’s amazing, man,” Miller said. “These guys battled all year, and I was only here for a short time. But just to be a part of it, be a part of a championship that hasn’t been done here in so long, is awesome, and I’m so happy for this team.”
This was definitely not the season Miller would have drawn up. His back issues cost him a lot of at-bats in a developmental year and perhaps a chance to crack the Phillies’ big-league roster if all had gone right. Still, he managed to finish on a high note and take the three-foot plunge in the heated pool.
“It’s just staying resilient, man,” Miller said. “No matter how the year started, the fact that I’m back here, I’m back healthy and got the ultimate goal, which is the championship, means the world to me.”
