Former MLB Outfielder Ian Miller Joins ‘From Phenom To The Farm’ Episode 113

Image credit: Ian Miller (Zachary Lucy/Four Seam Images)

As a teenager, Ian Miller didn’t have the typical pedigree of a future big leaguer. He’d been cut from his seventh grade Legion team and didn’t make varsity until his junior year of high school. The outfielder was a late-bloomer, undersized and underdeveloped, but he even as he waited to fill out, there was one thing going for him.

“I always had speed,” Miller said. “That’s how I didn’t get overlooked. I was able to get my foot in the door.”

Miller couldn’t put on a show during BP but could when running from home to first. A perfectly placed drag bunt caught the eye of the coaching staff at Wagner College, giving Miller the opportunity to walk on during the fall of 2010, but with no guarantees.

“There was nothing promised to me,” Miller said. “Nothing at all.” 

Want more podcasts like this one? Subscribe below!

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Player FM

Miller’s speed earned him a spot on Wagner’s roster, where he started as a freshman. He then broke out during the summer of 2012 in the Alaska League, showcasing his speed by pacing the league with 36 steals and making the all-star game. Miller went from walk-on to draft prospect, and, after notching another 46 bags for Wagner the ensuing spring, he was selected by the Mariners in the 14th round of the 2013 draft.

Per usual, Miller’s path to the big leagues was going to be through his legs. Pro ball meant swiping bags off the best of the best. He learned quickly those steals meant not worrying about the catcher—all of them were good—and instead focusing who was on the bump.

“My tells had a lot to do with the pitcher,” Miller said. “I never worried about the catcher. You steal the bag off the pitcher, regardless.”

As Miller moved through the minors, he carried the same mentality that had gotten him through high school and college, putting tireless work in and “owning 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.” Swing changes, approach changes and a tip from Dee Gordon to choke up on the bat took Miller to Triple-A during the 2017 season, where he waited for an opportunity and kept stealing bags.

The Twins, looking to add a basestealing threat ahead of the 2019 playoffs, traded for Miller in a post-deadline swap. After a few weeks in Triple-A, which included swiping a bag off a quick pitcher in front of Twins brass, Miller got his unlikely callup. A well-placed drag bunt as a high schooler had gotten him all the way to the big leagues, and he appeared in 12 games for Minnesota.

Miller got back to the big leagues in 2020, earning a callup to play at an empty Wrigley Field with the Cubs during the pandemic-shortened season. After spending the entirety of 2021 in Triple-A, Miller decided he was finally ready to rest his legs and move on from the day-in, day-out grind of professional baseball.

In looking back on his career, Miller said he wouldn’t tell his younger self to change a thing.

“I would just say one thing: “You’re right … just keep betting on yourself.”

On the latest episode of ‘From Phenom to the Farm,’ Ian Miller joins to talk his journey from college walk-on to big league outfielder.