June 25, 2009

CHANNELVIEW, Texas -- Baylor's Aaron Miller signed a professional contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday evening and will report Friday to the club's spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz. Miller was a first-round draft selection with the 36th overall selection, the Dodgers' first pick of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He will begin his professional career with the Class A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League.

Miller, who prepped at Channelview [Texas] High School, was 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA and two saves for the Bears in 2009. He appeared in 13 games with six starts and logged 65 strikeouts against 26 walks in 51.0 innings. Miller led the Big 12 with 11.47 strikeouts per nine innings. In two seasons as a pitcher, Miller was 4-4 in 19 appearances with 73 strikeouts over 56.0 innings.

A two-way player for the Bears, Miller hit .310 with 12 home runs and 47 RBI this season. He was a career .301 hitter at Baylor with 28 home runs, 127 RBI, 163 hits, 38 doubles and five triples in 153 games.

Baylor's 10th all-time first-round selection, Miller was the program's sixth first-round selection in the last 12 seasons. As the 36th overall selection, Miller is Baylor's highest draft selection since David Murphy was taken with the 17th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2003.