The role of Alec Mills will increase now that Cubs left-hander José Quintana is out for the foreseeable future after surgery to repair nerve damage on his left thumb.That means it’s time to buckle up and buckle up a constant dose of super slow and heavy curved balls.
According to Statcast data, Mills’ average curved ball speed of 68.6 mph is slower than 99.8% of all MLB pitchers since 2018. He also throws with an unorthodox release point that sees him drop the ball more far from first base that 98.6% of the pitchers right In addition, Mills land with your left foot closed to a greater degree than probably any other launcher in the game. ->
But what’s really interesting about Mills’ breaker ball is that it can actually be divided into two types of throws. It has a faster curved ball and an extremely slow one, tone of eephus that started showing last season. ->
Alec Mills new 65 mph curve.
I like to think of myself as the hitter, Mills as Monday morning, and the ball as the alarm clock. pic.twitter.com/IG28JvXuIQ
– Cubs Outlook – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) July 8, 2019
It’s hard not to be curious and enthusiastic about what Mills can do with the Cubs’ rebuilt launch development infrastructure. I am picturing Tommy Hottovy and the rest of the pitching advisers salivating over that single curved ball and how it can work with a diverse pitch repertoire.
In addition to benders and fastballs, Mills also combines shifters (19%) and sliders (11%). The guy has the repertoire to do it as a major league starter.
Quintana’s absence will absolutely affect the Cubs’ pitching depth, of that there is no doubt. But in a 60-game season where each starting pitcher will likely have 10-12 starts, they may be at least as good every fifth day. Thinking about that crazy curved ball and its previous solid performance, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mills presents better numbers than the computers projected for Quintana.
