READING, Pa. - The Reading Fightin’ Phils didn’t just win an Eastern League title. They did it with a lineup that kept getting healthier, louder and far more dangerous at exactly the right time.
At the center of that surge were three Phillies prospects who spent much of the summer on the sideline: Dante Nori, Aidan Miller and Carson DeMartini. Nori and DeMartini lost months to injuries. Miller spent the year working back from a back injury that included a procedure, and for a while, even his baseball future in 2026 was uncertain.
By the time Reading was celebrating its first championship in 31 years, all three were in the middle of the action - and then some. They even jumped into the famous pool in right field at First Energy Stadium to mark the moment, soaking in a title that looked a long way off when each of them was stuck in rehab.
“People counted us out so early in the season,” Nori said to Phillies on SI. “When I was in rehab, I was seeing it.
I wanted to get back here. I want to help this team win a championship.
When things got going and we were coming back, we knew this was going to happen.”
Nori missed two months with a broken hip, out from June 6 to August 15. DeMartini’s absence was even longer, nearly three months because of a hamstring injury; he last played on May 6 and returned on July 28. Miller, meanwhile, wasn’t just delayed - he was gone all year before finally working his way back and joining Reading for the final week of the regular season.
That late arrival still mattered. He helped the Fightin’ Phils clinch a playoff berth and gave an already strong offense one more high-end bat when the games started to matter most.
“I had this on my mind in rehab. I knew when I was coming back, I was going to be here,” Miller said. “I fought to be here for the playoffs and for the championship.”
Reading already had plenty of firepower with Bryan Rincon, Raylen Heredia, Aroon Escobar, Pedro Leon and Austin Murr in the mix. Add Nori, DeMartini and Miller back into the fold, and the lineup turned into a problem for everybody else.
Nori’s numbers since returning weren’t flashy - he hit .237 with a .713 OPS - but his speed at the top of the order changed how the lineup played. Hitting in the No. 2 spot, he helped set the table for Rincon, Miller and Heredia. His home run in the eighth inning of his return from rehab on August 25, in the morning game that day for the Fightin’ Phils, kicked off the stretch that led into the playoff run.
DeMartini was the hottest of the three once he got back. In August and September combined, he hit .298 with a 1.058 OPS, along with 5 HR and 19 RBI. He also showed a polished approach, walking 31 times and striking out 30.
Miller made an immediate impact too, hitting .300 with an .864 OPS in his first week back in Reading. In the postseason, all three kept producing. Reading scored 40 runs in four playoff games and swept its way to the title.
Nori had three hits in Tuesday night’s Eastern League clincher and finished the postseason hitting .250 with a .650 OPS. DeMartini delivered the knockout blow with a grand slam in the clincher and closed the playoffs at .385 with a 1.292 OPS. Miller added two hits in the clincher and hit .286 with an .857 OPS in the postseason.
The patience at the plate stood out across the board. Together, the trio struck out 13 times and walked 16 in the playoffs.
Reading’s offense was already on a tear to finish the year. Since clinching a playoff spot on September 10, the Fightin’ Phils scored 80 runs in six games. Over their last five home games, they averaged 14.8 runs.
The late-season return of three top-15 prospects gave that offense another gear, and the timing could not have been better.
“It didn't matter how the year started,” Miller said. “The fact that we were back here and got the ultimate goal -- which was the championship.
“Being in rehab all year and getting to be a part of this at the end. It makes it so much sweeter.”
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