Pitching prospect Miller near end of rehab with eye on Tigers camp

The excitement in Jake Miller’s voice is unmistakable as the Tigers’ pitching prospect prepares for his first Spring Training in Major League camp. This is what the left-hander has been working toward, to put himself on Detroit’s doorstep and position himself for a chance in the Major Leagues.

It’ll be one of the most exciting times of Miller’s career to date. And yet, it will be one of the more frustrating times, because while Miller will be one of several promising young pitchers at camp in Lakeland, Fla., he will not be able to pitch, at least not right away.

After an injury-plagued 2025 season culminated in surgery on both hips, Miller is in the late stages of his rehab.

“I’m kind of playing with house money,” Miller said last weekend following his participation in MLB’s annual offseason Rookie Program, which prepares prospects on the verge of the big leagues for what they’ll encounter when they arrive. “You get to be around all these guys and just observe. I think there’s so much value in observing what they do and how they go about their days. I’ll start throwing, obviously, but I think I’ll have plenty of time to just observe and be a sponge, just learn as much as I can, and hopefully take that into the season with me and see what can happen.”

While the Tigers’ farm system has ranked among the best in baseball over the past few years, it has become increasingly hitter-heavy, particularly at the top. The highest-ranked pitcher in MLB Pipeline’s most recent Tigers prospect rankings is Jaden Hamm at No. 10. Just two of the 13 pitchers in the rankings, Ty Madden and Dylan Smith, have pitched above Double-A.

Miller is an example of the prototype Tigers pitching prospect for the moment. The Tigers drafted Miller in the eighth round in 2022 out of Valparaiso, where he pitched two seasons for head coach and former Tigers pitcher Brian Schmack. Miller has climbed the organization equally comfortable pitching as a starter as in relief, and has been successful doing both.

Outside of Madden and Smith, Miller probably has the best chance of any pitcher in the rankings at pitching in Detroit this season. If he can get back to form, he has the best chance of taking a Troy Melton path to a late-season role on Detroit’s pitching staff. Miller is a different style of pitcher, a deceptive lefty with a wipeout slider and a quality changeup to complement a low-90s four-seamer and sinker. But when he’s right, he has that same aggressiveness and comfort pitching in most any situation.

But like with many young pitchers, health is the key.

Miller began climbing prospect rankings in 2024, when he went 9-3 with a 1.85 ERA across three levels. He made just three starts in 24 appearances and threw just 87 1/3 innings but racked up 104 strikeouts – a 10.7 K/9 rate – while allowing just 65 hits. He earned a spot in the Arizona Fall League and struck out 24 more batters across just 16 2/3 innings.

Miller opened last season in Erie’s rotation, but he felt a twinge of back tightness in his first start despite an impressive performance. He made just four starts before what began as seemingly just a back tweak became a diagnosis of a stress fracture.

“Last year was tough,” Miller said, “batting the back injury early and just having setbacks in the rehab process. But we were able to kind of figure out what was wrong and where it was stemming from.”

Eventually, tests led doctors to Miller’s left hip, which had a torn labrum, similar to what former Tigers reliever Chase Lee experienced a few years ago. After a flareup on the other side, Miller got additional tests revealing damage to the other hip.

“It took some time to figure it out, but it was just such a tough injury to navigate,” Miller said. “I did have the back injury, which was caused from the hips, but I just felt everything in my back the entire time. We were scanning the back, scanning the back, treating the back, and the root cause was the hips. I’m very glad we got it figured out when we did.”

Miller underwent two surgeries, a few weeks apart. After regaining functional strength and mobility, he’s set to resume throwing soon. Being in big league camp, he’ll be able to work on regaining and improving his mechanics under the watch of pitching coach Chris Fetter and biomechanics expert Robin Lund.

“I don’t think the delivery will be impacted at all. If anything, I think it’s going to be better,” Miller said.

His goals are simple.

“The main goal for me obviously is to make it to the big leagues,” Miller said. “And what comes with that is being healthy, being available.”