LOS ANGELES — A stint on the injured list gave Chicago Cubs right-hander Alec Mills time to reflect on how to get back in a groove.
Mills has filled essentially every role on the Cubs pitching staff at some point this season, but since coming off the IL on June 8, three of his four appearances have been as a starter. He battled in his outing Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and despite struggling to consistently command his stuff in the 3-2 loss, Mills has a 3.38 ERA over those three starts.
“It was kind of a reset or a restart and found some rhythm and found, I guess, the tempo that I needed to have for me to be better,” Mills told the Tribune. “I was just a little bit slow, especially in the leg lift, so I got little rotation. I kind of went back and started from the beginning (during rehab starts).”
Mills is aligned to start Friday’s series opener in Cincinnati if the Cubs remain on rotation. They also could skip the fifth starter spot because of Thursday’s day off, so they have options in how they want to set up the rotation for the 10 days leading up to the All-Star break.
Innings are valuable and much-needed from the rotation. Mills can potentially give the Cubs five or six and keep them in the game.
But with right-hander Trevor Williams (appendectomy) beginning his rehab with a start Sunday for Triple-A Iowa in which he threw two scoreless innings, the Cubs need to figure out how to get more from their rotation.
Cubs starters are averaging 4.9 innings per start, and that was before rookie Adbert Alzolay lasted only three innings Sunday at Dodger Stadium. The major-league average is 5.1 innings per start. The offense hasn’t been hitting well enough to consistently overcome that issue.
Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said over the weekend Mills deserves the opportunity to show he should stick in the rotation, a decision that looms once Williams is built up enough to come off the IL.
“He gets a lot of credit for all the different roles that he can do that a lot of people can’t do — the swingman role, the longer roles, sit for a while, restart or make a spot start — but I think we’d all be kidding ourselves if we didn’t think that his best role is as a starter,” Hottovy said. “That’s his mix and his routine, and being able to get into that routine really makes a difference for him.
“He’s definitely somebody that we trust to pitch big innings and make some big starts for us. It’s going to be interesting for him, as he continues to build into this rotation and get more starts, where we are.”
The Cubs don’t want to look too far ahead and try to figure out how to piece everything together. Things tend to work themselves out. Hottovy acknowledged they might have to get creative in how they put together the rotation. Riding the hot hand is also a consideration.
“You don’t want to move a guy just because you need to make a decision,” Hottovy said. “If he’s hot and it’s working, we want to stay with that and give him an opportunity.”
Upgrading and adding depth to the rotation is the most obvious need for the Cubs as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. There’s an internal avenue they could explore, too, to give them more starting pitching options.
Left-hander Justin Steele, who started his rehab assignment Sunday with a one-inning appearance for Iowa, and right-hander Keegan Thompson could be stretched out. Both were starters in the minors before becoming valuable bullpen options for manager David Ross.
Ultimately the Cubs want to bridge the gap to their dominant back-end relievers. There are different ways they could do that, such as using two pitchers for three innings each to get to the seventh.
“We still see Keegan and Steele as starters in the future anyway,” Hottovy said. “So it’s not like we see them as bullpen pieces only. They’re guys we want to get stretched out. We want to keep giving them that development as a starter.”
While the Cubs weigh their options, Mills has a chance in the meantime to pitch his way into sticking in the rotation.
“I want to be the Swiss Army knife for the team, anything I can do to help win,” Mills said. “You have to be a realist. I’m 29 years old. I’m not going to win too many accolades for myself, so it comes down to me really just trying to do everything I can to help the Cubs win. That’s why I’m here. I think I can do that.”
- Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news
- Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning
"do it" - Google News
June 28, 2021 at 08:32AM
https://ift.tt/3qv0hN8
Alec Mills: Chicago Cubs pitcher aims to stick in rotation - Chicago Tribune
"do it" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2zLpFrJ
https://ift.tt/3feNbO7
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Alec Mills: Chicago Cubs pitcher aims to stick in rotation - Chicago Tribune"
Post a Comment