2021 Has Been a Big Year for Twins Draft PIck Noah Miller and Family

[Seth Stohs]

After selecting RHP Chase Petty with the #26 overall pick in the 2021 draft, the Twins had a second selection ten picks later. With the 36th overall pick, they took Wisconsin high school shortstop Noah Miller. We recently discussed the draft, the baseball hotbed in Wisconsin, his big-league brother’s influence, and other topics. 

On Saturday, May 22, Noah Miller was sitting in his bedroom. He walked into the next room and saw his mom crying.

“Why are you crying?” He asked.

She replied, tears in her eyes, “Owen just got called up.” 

Owen Miller is the older brother of Noah. He was the third-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2018 out of Illinois State. In August of 2020, he was traded to Cleveland in the Mike Clevenger trade. At 24, he found himself in Cleveland, batting sixth and DHing against J.A. Happ and the Twins. Sure, he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, but he is a big leaguer. And Noah Miller was there. 

“I did get to go. Actually, I missed my graduation for that. It was pretty exciting.”

Yes, Noah was set to graduate on Sunday afternoon. Instead, he said his family got up about 2:30 a.m. and made the trek to Cleveland for a 1:10 game. 

The Cleveland brass found out that Noah was missing his graduation, so they put a big picture of him on their video board congratulating him on his graduation. 

“I actually missed it. I was getting hot dogs with my brother’s girlfriend and my cousin.”

Don’t worry. Miller said that he received his diploma from the school’s principal shortly after. 

That May game in Cleveland was not his first Twins game of the year. He drove down to Milwaukee for the Opening Day pitcher’s duel between Jose Berrios and Corbin Burnes (and that hard-to-watch first loss of the season for the Twins). 

It’s been a hectic past couple of months for Noah Miller. Before baseball season began, he finished his senior season of basketball. When asked if he was any good, he sheepishly replied, “I broke our school’s scoring record, so now I’m the all-time leading scorer at our high school.”

Miller didn’t play in the Area Code Games last summer, and scouts didn’t get as many opportunities to see players in 2020 due to the pandemic. He played his high school baseball season, and he continued to play more this summer. 

Twins Scouting Director Sean Johnson said, “We benefited from the later draft this year because normally a kid from Wisconsin, you’re not going to get to until late April or May, which may not have been enough time to get the looks we got on Noah. I saw Noah play three weeks ago for his summer team just east of LaCrosse, did a day trip that day with Deron Johnson. So we got a lot more looks than we normally would in a June 10 draft. So we used the extra month and said, ‘Who’s playing? Who can we go see?’”

Soon after, Miller was invited to Target Field to participate in a pre-draft workout. Twins area scout Joe Bisenius had been tracking him for quite some time and was in contact with him all year, but when he arrived at Target Field, and there were just three other players, he knew that the Twins had a legitimate interest in him. So he wasn’t totally surprised when the Twins selected him.

“I talked to him (Bisenius) a good amount. I talked to him, especially in the winter. I had a zoom call with him. I think they told me they had eight or nine guys come to see me play. I wasn’t necessarily surprised. When I went to the pre-draft workout, there were only four of us there, and they told me, ‘you’re kind of our guy here,’ that was pretty cool. I knew that my shot to get into the first round was with the Twins. It was a little bit of a surprise, but at the same time, I wasn’t surprised.”

So on Sunday night, Day 1 of the draft, Miller knew there was some chance he would be drafted late in the night, maybe by the Twins, but also realized that he could be selected early on Day 2. 

“It was awesome. I was sitting there, and my agent called me around pick 34, and he was like, ‘Hey man, the Twins might pick you at 36. There’s a chance.’ He said, ‘Just be on the lookout.’ Then he called me again, and he was just like, ‘Again, just kind of be ready if something happens here.’ So I didn’t really know if I was going to or not, and then they picked me, and it was just, I mean, it was unbelievable. It was just me and my family, and we were going crazy.”

Following Day 1 of the draft, Sean Johnson described Miller’s offense. “Johnson noted, “It’s rare anymore to see a player you believe has hit skills from both sides of the plate. Switch-hitters are pretty rare anymore. He has a great swing from both sides. We think that he will have power from both sides.” 

Miller said he’s been switch-hitting for a long time. He said, “Realistically, it was probably like second or third grade just playing wiffleball in the backyard with my brother and my cousins, and in the basement with tennis balls. Then in fifth grade, I finally just realized that it’s something that I should probably do, and it was something that I enjoyed doing, so I just stuck with it from there. My approach from both, pretty much the same for both ways. I don’t have the same mechanics for both ways, but my end goal is the same, and my thought is the same.”

He added that he is equally comfortable from both sides of the plate. “I probably get more at-bats lefty in-game, but I’ve done the work outside of games to make it feel the same.”

Johnson talked about Miller’s defense as well. “He’s extremely instinctive as a defender. He’s not the fastest shortstop in the world, but we think that he has a chance to stay there for a long time. He’ll profile whether he plays short forever or not. Great hands. Great feet. Great clock. It’s all the things you want to see. He’s super-advanced, more advanced than a lot of the college guys you see.”

While Miller acknowledges that he grew up a Brewers fan, he said his favorite player (aside from his brother, of course) is Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford because “he’s such a smooth defender.” 

He said he had played some second base and some third base on some national teams or in tournaments but spent most of his time at shortstop. 

And finally, Johnson talked about Miller’s drive, saying, “Johnson said, “You can just see the competitiveness in him that he got from his brother, and his family and being in that environment.”

Owen Miller went off to Illinois State when Noah was just 12 years old. Noah would hear all of the different things that Owen was working on in college, and he would be sure to work on those things as well. Noah was 15 when Owen was drafted, and he continued to get tips and things to work on and put into his game.

“Very beneficial for me. It was just awesome to have. (Owen) being such a great hitter. Him being my number one hitting coach was kind of the best thing that he’s ever done for me,”

Owen has continually provided solid advice for Noah. “He told me about college. He told me about pro ball. He told me the benefits of both, the cons of both. He thought I was ready for pro ball. He thought that was something that I should maybe do if I get the chance. He said maybe I should take that, and I’m glad I did now. He told me about the grind of minor league baseball, everything like that, just working in the offseason with him, working out with him, hitting with him. Everything that improved my game.”

It certainly isn’t difficult to understand why the Twins are so excited about both Chase Petty and Noah Miller. Soon their long journey up the organizational ladder will begin. It should be fun to watch. 

Jared Walsh. JP Feyereisen. Daulton Varsho. Jarred Kelenic. Gavin Lux. Alex McRae. Jonathan Stiever. Recently-retired Jordan Zimmerman. Twins catcher Ben Rortvedt. Owen Miller. 

All of these players have spent time in the big leagues in 2021. All of these players were born and grew up in Wisconsin. Miller hopes to join his brother and these other Wisconsinites in the big leagues one day. Miller gives a lot of credit to RJ Fergus at Hitters Baseball in Caledonia, Wisconsin, for giving Wisconsin kids an indoor facility for the winter. 

 

 

Next up? The Twins will be talking with Miller and his family and representation and come to terms on a signing bonus. He is likely to sign that contract at Target Field and then head down to Ft. Myers and begin his pro career. If he does get into games, and he should, it will be with the FCL Twins. 

Let the journey begin. 

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[Dman]

Great story thanks!  I do love that he looks good from both sides of the plate.  It is long ways to go for High School picks but having his brother lead the way for him should help speed him along.  I really like the pick and hope he can stay at short as we really need up the middle players.

[roger]

Thanks, Seth.  The more I read the more I really like this pick.  Considering he was taken in the first round out of high school and his brother the third round out of college, have to believe he is viewed as a better prospect than his brother, right?  His brother made it to the Indians in what, three years?  Although I understand that starting from high school he should be expected to take longer than three years, but four or certainly five shouldn't be unexpected?

[Seth Stohs]

2 minutes ago, roger said:

Thanks, Seth.  The more I read the more I really like this pick.  Considering he was taken in the first round out of high school and his brother the third round out of college, have to believe he is viewed as a better prospect than his brother, right?  His brother made it to the Indians in what, three years?  Although I understand that starting from high school he should be expected to take longer than three years, but four or certainly five shouldn't be unexpected?

That's a realistic timeline. I would think he would spend most of the 2022 season in Ft. Myers. Then a year in Cedar Rapids. 2024 in hopefully Wichita. Saints to start 2025 and a potential call-up? That's pretty aggressive on an 18-year-old, but it would have him debuting sometime in 2025. It's realistic, though 2026 probably more fair. 

Third round picks are really valuable, but just from a prospect status, I would say this... Coming out of high school, Owen Miller went to Illinois State. Noah Miller has a commitment to Alabama, an SEC school and he was a first-round pick. So Noah definitely the better "prospect" coming out of high school. Not sure that means anything long-term, but yeah. 

[DocBauer]

The one thing I like about this pick will sound silly on the surface but I believe has real merit is that most of BASEBALL in general, from recruiting to ML scouting, is that the Midwest and especially northern schools get far less attention than CA, TX, and any other warm climate state, including SEC and ACC territories seem to receive. 

There is real talent available outside the warm weather states. Not everyone wants to spend the time to look. Too many teams want to look at kids who have spring, summer, fall and travel roster games to audition and show themselves. Not every Midwestern kid has time and money to show themselves off the same or join a travel team, Some come from smaller schools and teams, like Miller, and also play other sports. 

I have no clue how good Miler could be. Nobody does, including the Twins. But good on them for trusting good scouting to watch an undervalued and under appreciated kid with real talent that has big potential.  

The ML draft reminds me a lot of college football recruiting. So much hype about a 4 star kid when a 3 star, or 2 star....occasionally a WO....was undervalued and turns out to be a STUD. 

 

[tony&rodney]

To be fair, the kids in CA, FL, TX, and warm weather states get many more repetitions than those in cold weather states. This means, primarily, bat and arm speed as well as experiences running routes and fielding. Of course, there are players that excel from colder climates (Mike Trout), but the edge is real obvious and fairly dramatic. This is drawn from personal experience, coaching in both Florida and Minnesota, as well as time spent watching games in person. The skills are better watching American Legion in late July than watching the high schools in May. Weather does matter.