JULY 31: The Brewers have released Miller.
JULY 28: The Brewers have designated infielder Brad Miller, per a team announcement. The move was made to make room for the newly-acquired Mike Moustakas on the active roster. At the same time, the club reinstated right-handed reliever Matt Albers from the 10-day disabled list and optioned outfielder Keon Broxton to Triple-A.
Milwaukee acquired the 28-year-old Miller earlier this season in a one-for-one swap with the Rays, to whom they sent first baseman Ji-Man Choi in exchange. That hasn’t worked out quite as they’d hoped, as Miller’s been worse in 80 plate appearances in Milwaukee than he was in Tampa Bay this season. Since coming over, he’s hit just .230/.288/.378 with an eye-popping 38.8% strikeout rate. That’s incredibly concerning considering his abnormally high .366 BABIP.
Miller’s amassed 2,505 plate appearances during his MLB career, mostly with the Mariners and Rays. All told, he owns a .239/.313/.409 batting line with 75 career home runs. Miller came up through Seattle’s system after being selected early in the second round of the 2011 draft. He put up excellent power and contact numbers throughout his minor-league career while putting up a walk rate of at least 11% at every level from Class A-Advanced up. Those gaudy totals never translated to the majors, though, and while he was a useful player at times, the organizations he was a part of were surely disappointed to never see him reach his full potential.