‘Raw power’ was evident in Phillies’ first-round pick Aidan Miller back in middle school

Five years ago, as Howard Chittum watched pitchers throw on the side at a tryout for the high school travel team that he coaches in the Tampa area, he heard the clanging of baseballs against metal bleachers beyond the outfield.

“Who’s this kid?” Chittum asked the catcher, then a sophomore on his team at J.W. Mitchell High in Trinity, Fla. “Is he a local kid at the junior college?”

“Coach,” the catcher said, “that’s my little brother.”

And that was how Chittum met Aidan Miller.

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Chittum laughed Monday as he retold the story over the phone. It makes perfect sense now. As a middle schooler, Miller hit with the force of a teenager. As a teenager, he slugged with any high school hitter in the country. He committed to play at the University of Arkansas, but there was never much doubt that he’d get drafted in the first round. It was only a matter of how high he would go.

Miller only fell into the Phillies’ lap Sunday night, as the 27th overall pick, because he missed almost all of his senior season with a broken hamate bone in the palm of his left hand, near the wrist. Otherwise, it seems he would’ve been off the board within the first 10 or 15 picks.

Even so, Chittum figured Miller wouldn’t get past his hometown team at No. 19.

“I’m being a homer, but I thought the Rays were going to get him,” Chittum said. “They had a lot of interest in him. I think the Phillies got the steal of the draft — by far. Good for Philadelphia.”

Chittum is biased, of course. But there’s evidence to back him up.

Last July, Miller hit six balls out of Dodger Stadium in one minute to win the home run derby for high schoolers as part of MLB’s All-Star week at Dodger Stadium. Two months later, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound infielder went 11-for-23 (.478) with three triples, two homers, and eight RBIs in nine games to help lift Team USA over Chinese Taipei in the Under-18 Baseball World Cup.

In a draft class that was rich with high school and college hitters, Phillies amateur scouting director Brian Barber said Miller stood out for his ability to hit for both average and power. Chittum put it even more plainly.

“He’s got a lot of raw power,” Chittum said. “More than anybody I’ve coached, for sure.”

In six years as the head coach at J.W. Mitchell, Chittum can recall only five home runs at Mustang Stadium. Miller hit two of them, including one in his freshman year that Chittum counts among the longest homers he has seen from a high school player.

“In batting practice, he and his brother over the last four years cost our school a lot of money,” Chittum said. “Because a lot of their balls don’t come back.”

Miller’s brother, Jackson, was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2020. Their father, Jason, got drafted by the Rangers in 1994. Jason owns Courthouse Performance Center, a 20,000-square-foot training facility in Oldsmar, Fla., near Tampa, that attracts Mets slugger Pete Alonso and other elite hitters in the offseason.

Aidan “keeps office hours there,” as Chittum puts it.

“He goes at the same time every day and does his hitting routine, his fielding routine, and all his lifting and speed work,” Chittum said. “He’s very regimented in that way.”

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That was especially true this spring.

Once the doctors determined that Miller actually broke the hamate bone — X-rays initially came back negative, according to Chittum, who said an MRI taken when the swelling didn’t subside revealed the fracture — he didn’t miss a practice or a game. Instead, Miller poured his energy into the rehab process.

“He would lift with the half of his body that he could use, continuing his workouts on his lower half, doing everything he could to keep his speed up,” Chittum said. “Once he got the date that he could possibly be back for the playoffs, I think he just devoted himself to the process of getting better.”

The Mustangs’ season ended about one week before Miller was cleared to play. But he worked out for several teams, including the Phillies, before the draft. Barber said the Phillies’ confidence in the health of Miller’s hand, coupled with their scouting from last year, convinced them to snatch him up at No. 27.

“He’s definitely stronger than the other kids,” Barber said. “If you have the opportunity to see video of him, you will see definitely the lower-half strength. He might have some of the strongest legs you will ever see from a high school player. That translates into the power in his game, as well.”

Once the Phillies sign Miller (slot value for the 27th pick is $2.97 million) and get him to their training facility in Clearwater, Fla., they can figure out his best position. He played mostly shortstop in high school last year but was a right fielder for Team USA. He may profile best at third base. Barber said he could also play second.

“And he pitched,” Chittum said. “He was our closer [in travel ball].”

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Miller committed to being only a position player after his sophomore year. He “looked like a baby giraffe at first” at shortstop, said Chittum, who watched him improve his lateral movement last year.

“That was really something that probably hurt him not playing [as a senior] is people didn’t get to see that part of him,” Chittum said. “Everybody talks about him being a corner guy at third or first and can play outfield. But he’s a really good shortstop.”

Wherever Miller plays, Chittum predicts he will hit.

Those dented metal bleachers at high school fields in Tampa are proof of that.