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    Reds MiLB Notebook: The return of Jackson Miller

    Doug Gray 6

    When the Cincinnati Reds selected Jackson Miller in the 2nd round of the 2020 draft they knew that they would have to wait for him to get on the field. There was no minor league season in 2020, so Miller, like everyone else, was going to have to wait around before getting to experience what being a professional baseball player was like.

    When the 2021 season came around Miller played in three games from July 10th through the 16th, going 2-4 with two walks and he was hit by a pitch.  He didn’t play again the rest of the season. Miller then missed all of 2022. And then he missed all of 2023 until this week. Injuries and more have just hit the catcher one after another after another and have kept him from getting on the field to the point that his younger brother Aidan, who was drafted three years after he was, has now played in more minor league games (he was selected 27th overall by the Phillies last month).

    Jackson Miller returned to the field on Monday for the Arizona Complex League Reds. He went 0-4 that night. It was his first game in more than two years. Last night he had himself a big game, going 2-3 with a triple, two runs scored, and he drove in three as the Reds beat up on the ACL Diamondbacks Black squad (Arizona has two ACL teams – the Dbacks Red and the Dbacks Black).

    Edwin Arroyo keeps on hitting

    The start to the 2023 season was not a good one for Edwin Arroyo. The 19-year-old was hitting .182/.234/.311 through the first 36 games of the season for the Dayton Dragons. In those 158 plate appearances he had a walk rate of 5.7% and a strikeout rate of 24.1%.

    But in that 37th game of the season Arroyo went 3-4 with a double and he’s pretty much never looked back. In the 62 games that followed those first 36, the shortstop has hit .305/.389/.515 with 16 doubles, 8 triples, and 6 home runs. His walk rate went from 5.7% to 11.3% – nearly double. His strikeout rate dropped from 24.1% to 19.6%, too. The last two-and-a-half months have turned his season around. His slow start still lingers as his overall line on the year – his OPS is just .769 as I type this – but for more than half of the season now, he’s hit as expected, if not better.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    6 Responses

    2. Hopefully, Miller has been able to absorb the learning part of the catching job which goes along with the training of a catcher, so that the whole time period hasn’t been a waste.

      Just an observation on Arroyo, I thought early on in the season watching his demeanor on the field I thought he had read to many of his clippings which were offering nothing but praise. A couple of examples: when most of the young players at this level return to the dugout after an at bat either by scoring or making an out and the run by equipment like a bat or a helmet they pick it up and take it to the dugout. A few major league it and run past the equipment to the dugout and let the bat boy come out to get it, Arroyo was the latter. Hendrick falls into that too.

      Early in the year the Dragons had a Saturday morning meet the team day for season ticket holders. Conspicuous by their absence was Arroyo and Hendrick.

      It appears Arroyo has figured out that it just isn’t going to happen because he runs out on the field. Plus, some of the clippings have been less flattering.

      1. Nice anecdote. There is al to of that going around in baseball where so many of these guys are making or are gonna make massive fortunes making them feel they are entitled or invincible. One of baseball’s brightest star quite possible just lost a few numbered million dollars because of it.

      2. Humble pie is best served cold. You aren’t the first to say Austin Hendricks has an attitude that needs adjusted and a maturity that needs to grow more. Good if Arroyo learned it now while he’s young, his generation is the truest definition of thinking they are entitled to everything. Hopefully, he learned that’s not how life, nor baseball, truly goes. Most of the time, learning the mental side of things and growing up is what really determines if a player will “make it” or not.

      1. Multiple hernias. Shoulder surgery. A medical issue (non-injury) also kept him off of the field for a little bit of time this spring, too.

    4. If Arroyo continue to hit like this and live up to expectations and move up the ladder, he’s possibly in line to get to Reds sometime in 2025 (second half). But the big question is where is he going to play? Unless De La Cruz has to move off short, middle infield is pretty locked up for years to come. I guess it will be a great problem to have. To continually have to figure out where these top prospects are going to fit into this loaded and young team. Great time to finally be a Reds/Bengals fan.

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