Adam Mills was 7-4 at Lancaster to earn a promotion to Double-A Portland in July. |
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Mills One of Three Former Niners Promoted in Minor League Baseball This Week
July 9, 2008
Portland, Maine - According to Geobytes.com, it is the second-longest trip you can take between cities within a baseball organization for a promotion. For former Charlotte 49er Adam Mills, it is all part of his much longer journey to the Major Leagues. Mills was promoted from the California League's Lancaster Jethawks to the Eastern League's Portland Sea Dogs last week, and the 2,603 miles were only part of the trip. (A San Francisco prospect can go from Single-A San Jose to Double-A Connecticut, in Norwich, for a 2,638-mile trip.) Mills needed all four days he was given to adjust to the time change before pitching for the Boston Red Sox organization's Double-A franchise.
"I went from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, then Philadelphia and then to Trenton, because my team was on the road there," said Mills, the morning after his second start with the Sea Dogs. "I lost an entire day traveling and I got to take a quick nap when I got there in the morning and head right to the park to meet my new team. I needed every bit of those days to adjust to the time change and I think was 90 percent adjusted when I pitched on July 3."
Mills, who led the nation in ERA for Charlotte in 2007, was the top pitcher in the high-altitude atmosphere of Lancaster, California, with a 7-4 record and 4.43 ERA before his promotion. He gave up four hits and two runs in the first inning of his July 3 start, but settled in to allow four more hits but no runs in that first outing and took the loss, as his team did not score a run in his six innings of work. In a second start on July 8, Mills gave up five runs on nine hits in five innings of work, but his team rallied to tie the game, giving him a no-decision.
Mills stated that reaching Double-A was a goal for this season, but that the timeframe was ahead of schedule.
"I am not here to throw a no-hitter each time out. I want to get experience at this level and focus harder on getting guys out," said Mills.
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"I need to make the little adjustments and not make the mistakes that I could get away with at Lancaster. Guys at this level will hit your mistakes hard. I felt like that if I pitched 90 pitches on Tuesday, then I had 81 good ones and nine bad ones. They hit the nine bad ones."
Mills, who is listed at 5-11 and 190 pounds, says he is the smallest pitcher on his team at this next level.
"Everyone here is 6-4 and 250, so I feel like I have to work harder than the guys ahead of me," he said, referring to his weightlifting and running workouts that he puts himself through. "I'm not going to overpower guys, but I can keep hitters off-balance. If I get a strikeout, it's because they didn't swing at a strike or guessed wrong. Most of guys here have better stuff. I'm in the shallow end of the pool, but I can control three or four of my pitches, which helps me."
Mills referenced lessons he got at Charlotte when talking about the future for him in professional baseball. His pace of play and keeping baserunners guessing has been something that the roving instructors want him to work on.
"There are two things that the staff here is working with me on," said Mills. "First, working on in-game adjustments to hitters is a key. Second, and it's something that Coach Hall (Charlotte pitching coach Brandon Hall) was big on with me in college, is that tempo to the plate is a big deal here and I learned a lot about it at Charlotte. Working on that with him has been very helpful at this level. I have to be aware of baserunners and the running game as I'm pitching to limit the offense's opportunities to score."
Mills is making Charlotte his home, and will be signing paperwork to own his first home, in the Harrisburg area.
"I remember watching two Major League Baseball drafts and not being as stressed as buying a house," joked Mills. "Lisa Rosenbaum (mother of recent draftee Zach with the Mets) is a realtor and she made it very easy for me and I'm glad to have a home to come back to when the season is over."
Also making a long trip due to promotion was Mills' fellow 2007 First-Team All-Atlantic 10 pitching teammate, Spencer Steedley. After an all-star appearance, he left the Midwest League's Beloit Snappers and landed at Fort Myers (1,175 miles) to pitch in the Florida State League. Steedley was 5-3 at Beloit with a 2.14 ERA and eight saves. He had recorded 59 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.
That makes it three pitchers (including Derek McDaid) who started playing professional baseball from the Charlotte 49ers in the 2007 season to be promoted at mid-season.
In current player news, Charlotte designated hitter and infielder Rob Lyerly has made the South Team of the Northwoods League All-Star Game, which will be televised on ESPNU Monday night at 7 p.m. EDT.
