Milwaukee Brewers: When will we see Brad Miller?

Back on June 10th, the Milwaukee Brewers traded first baseman Ji-Man Choi to the Tampa Bay Rays for utilityman Brad Miller. When will Brad Miller get called up?

When the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Brad Miller, they immediately optioned him to Triple-A where he could get some work in at shortstop. Miller came up as a shortstop but has been playing first base and second base most recently for the Rays. So he needed some time to adjust to his new primary position.

With the Crew playing well, they’re not desperate for Miller to join the squad. Despite Orlando Arcia‘s struggles offensively, the Brewers are winning games and are willing to stick with Arcia because of his glove in the field.

The idea behind acquiring Miller was to help out the big league club, not Triple-A. He will be up in Milwaukee at some point, but when? He’s eligible to be called up at any time now. But the Brewers will likely want to wait until they’re absolutely sure he’s ready.

How is Brad Miller doing?

He’s not doing great. Miller has three errors in six games in Colorado Springs, all of them at shortstop. Adjusting back to a position he hasn’t played in a couple years hasn’t proved to be a smooth transition. And that’s okay. It’s not reasonable to expect Miller to be great at a position he hasn’t been at in a long time.

Miller was never seen as a good defender anyways, so if he’s going to get playing time at the big league level, the Milwaukee Brewers have to be willing to take his lumps defensively.

Offensively, Miller is hitting .217/.296/.348 in seven games in Colorado Springs. He was hitting .256/.322/.429 in the big leagues with Tampa Bay, proving to be a league average hitter. Even in the hitter friendly environment of Colorado Springs, he hasn’t been able to find his stroke at the plate just yet.

When could he get called up?

The timing of Miller’s call up likely depends on Triple-A manager Rick Sweet‘s reports that he sends in after every game. Once Rick Sweet tells the front office that he thinks Miller’s ready for the big leagues, he’ll get called up.

As far as an estimation goes, Miller will probably get the call within a week or two.

Miller had two errors in his first game in Colorado Springs and one in his next two games as well. So he’s been error-free for a couple games now, while that isn’t exactly a long streak, it’s a step in the right direction for him.

With Miller struggling at the plate and his not-so-great glove, it doesn’t make sense to play him over Arcia. Craig Counsell would rather have a good glove with no bat at shortstop than no glove and no bat. Until Miller’s bat heats up, he’s going to stay in Triple-A, but he can heat up at any moment.

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The Milwaukee Brewers aren’t forced to bring him up by a certain date, they can wait until he’s ready.