The Phillies return to college in the 4th round of the draft taking 6’5″ 240lb LHP Erik Miller out of Stanford. Miller is not like most of the Phillies recent early college picks (control oriented RHPs), and is actually quite the opposite. He is a big bodied power arm, who has shown inconsistent velocity, but at his best will sit mid 90s and reach up to 97. He has a plus slider, and has a changeup that should be average. The stuff at it’s best coupled with the frame gives him the ideal base to be a starting pitcher. The big problem has been inconsistency and command. In addition to the velocity reports being a bit all over the place, he had a terrible year in the Cape Cod League last summer. As for the command, he has 36 walks in 67.2 innings this year after a similarly high walk rate last year. If he can’t be consistent enough with his command to be a starter, the fastball-slider combination is a great building block for a good relief pitcher.
For the Phillies, Miller represents an interesting opportunity because they have had success with college pitchers and getting the most out of their arms and deliveries. If they can do to Miller what they have done to guys like Damon Jones, Spencer Howard, Kyle Dohy, and Zach Watson they could have a very interesting pitcher on their hands.