A.J. Miller lays it all out there.
It is, he says, the best way to describe the way he plays. And his actions seem to back that up.
“I try to play the game the right way. I have fun off the field and on the field, but I’m always giving max effort out there. If a ball is in foul territory, I’m always running to try to get on those, and I’m always looking to try to take that extra base. I’m not a super fast guy, but I’m always looking to advance any way I can.”
Miller is a 2018 MLB Draft eligible first baseman who plays at Casa Grande HS as well as with Rob Bruno’s NorCal Baseball program. Going into his freshman season, Miller and his family were looking for a travel team to join, and Bruno reached out. Miller attended a workout, got rolling, picked up a uniform and it all got started from there.
So far, so very, very good.
“There’s a lot of great things that we learn from Rob,” Miller said. “One thing that I’ve always been impressed with as far as Rob goes is his connections and how he knows so many people. He’s always trying to help us as players with his resources; there’s a lot of different coaches to talk to, interact with and meet. Every tournament, we’d always go and get to talk to somebody or hear someone speak. I think that’s something you can’t really find somewhere else, with Rob being such a knowledgeable guy and knowing so many people. That really helps, and it’s been cool to see all the benefits with that getting to meet so many people.”
Miller has committed to the University of Oregon and knew after speaking with Ducks coaches Mark Wasikowski, who is now at Purdue, and Jay Uhlman, that’s where he wanted to go. The recruitment process, he says, was made easier thanks to Bruno.
“After my freshman year, we played a tournament in Arizona, and two of the coaches for Oregon reached out to Rob,” Miller said. “A lot of the recruiting process was done through Rob, so that helped. I knew that’s where I wanted to go once I started talking to those guys, but Rob definitely did help that.”
