Loek van Mil and the mystery of super-tall pitchers

The news Monday that former Twins farmhand Loek van Mil had died awoke the usual sense of dismay when someone dies at an absurdly early age (van Mil was 34).

It also led me to ponder this connumdrum: As a general rule, the bigger the pitcher, the faster the pitches. But with the obvious exception of Randy Johnson, that advantage seems to vanish once the pitcher gets above 6-foot-8.

Van Mil is believed to the the tallest pitcher in the history of professional baseball at 7-foot-1. He never made it to the majors. He pitched in the Twins system from 2006 into 2010, when he was traded at the deadline to the Angels. From there he bounced to the Cleveland and Cincinnati organizations; he concluded his career in the States back with the Twins organization. He also pitched quite a bit in the Australian winter league and for the Dutch national team.

He was an easy guy to pick out during spring training on the Twins minor league side; he was the guy head-and-shoulders, and sometimes more, above everybody else. (Photos of him with Chris Cates, a 5-foor-3 shortstop who was frequently van Mil's teammate in the low minors, looked almost fake.)

Baseball America's coverage of van Mil generally used some variation of the thought that he needed "to pitch like a 7-footer" -- meaning he needed to rely on his fastball and use those long levers to generate greater velocity.

The thing is, other than Johnson, super-tall pitchers generally haven't been able to do that -- or if they could, to command that velocity.

Jon Rauch, 6-11, was a high velocity starting prospect with the White Sox system. An injury turned him into a reliever with diminished speed. He got 11 years in the majors, some of them with the Twins. He is probably the tallest player in major league history.

Chris Young, 6-10, was probably the most accomplished super-tall starter other than the Big Unit (also 6-10). He had four seasons of double-digit wins, and started and won a World Series game for Kansas City in 2015. He had a career-threatening arm injury in the middle of his major league career and never threw 200 innings in a season.

Mark Hendrickson was a 6-9 lefty who bounced around the majors for 10 seasons without notable success or a notable fastball. His career ERA was 5.03, although in fairness to him, it was generally with bad teams.

Eric Hillman, 6-10, ptiched in three seasons for the Mets, going 4-14 with a 4.85 ERA. He had very low walk and strikeout rates in his brief major league tenure.

All of which leads me to the conclusion that van Mil did indeed pitch like a 7-footer. It was Randy Johnson who didn't fit that mold.

Dissecting the Bill Smith era: Other trades of 2010

Steve Tolleson got to play in Target Field in 2010,
but not as a member of the home team.

When: Dec. 12, 2009
What: Traded right-handed pitcher Boof Bonser to the Boston Red Sox for right-handed pitcher Chris Province.
Value: Bonser pitched two innings for Boston in 2010 before being released. He has worked 25 major league innings since the trade (all in 2010, mostly with Oakland) with an ERA of 6.12. He recently signed a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants. Province did not pitch well in 2010 in the Twins system and decided to quit playing last spring.
Twins motivation: Avoid going to arbitration with Bonser.

Bonser's once-promising career has been derailed by injuries. As matters stand, nothing to see here.

When: Feb.1, 2010
What: Waived infielder Steve Tolleson, who was claimed by Oakland
Value: Tolleson played in 25 games for Oakland in 2010. He spent 2011 in the minors, was traded in midseason to the San Diego Padres, was released after the season and signed to a minor league deal by Baltimore.
Twins motivation: Open a 40-man roster spot that was filled three days later by the signing of Orlando Hudson.

Tolleson's major league future, if any, figures to be as a utility infielder, and he probably doesn't have the arm to handle the shortstop part of the job.

When: Aug. 25, 2010
What: Claimed Randy Flores on waivers from Colorado
Value: Got 11 outs in 11 appearances for the Twins with an ERA of 4.91.
Twins motivation: Injuries to Jose Mijares and Ron Mahay left the Twins short of lefty relievers.

The Twins took a flyer on Flores, and he quickly fell out of favor with Ron Gardenhire.

When: Aug. 27, 2010
What: Traded right-hander Loek Van Mil to the Angels for left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes
Value: Fuentes gave up no runs in 9.2 innings with the Twins. Van Mil has not pitched in the majors

Matt Fox in his
sole game with
Minnesota.

Twins motivation: Injuries to Jose Mijares and Ron Mahay left the Twins short of lefty relievers.

Fuentes -- who had been closing in Anaheim -- was obviously over-qualified for the LOOGY role and was always viewed strictly as a short-term rental. The Twins made no serious attempt to retain him as a free agent, and he signed with Oakland. Van Mil, a unique prospect (7-foot-1 from the Netherlands), had a decent year in Double A and still could, if he ever manages to stay healthy, emerge as a major league relief option.

When: Sept. 9, 2010
What: Waived right-hander Matt Fox, who was claimed by Boston.
Value: Fox has pitched 1.2 major league innings since leaving the Twins. He signed a minor-league deal this offseason with Seattle.
Twins motivation: Opened a spot on the 40-man roster for Ben Revere.

Fox was put on the 40 to make one memorable spot start. My guess is that that will remain the high point of his career.

Notes, quotes and comment

The player-to-be-named in the Brian Fuentes deal got named Wednesday. It's Loek Van Mil, the 7-foot-1 Dutch pitcher who's been kicking around the Twins organization for a few years, showing signs of good stuff and spending lots of time on the disabled list.

Van Mil had been waived off the 40-man roster to make room for Fuentes, having run up an ERA of 6.15 in Double A/High A this season. That made him more a novelty act than a prospect, although if he ever masters something other than a fast ball and stay healthy for a full year, he could still amount to something.

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Wondering how the Twins will deal with the starting rotation when Kevin Slowey returns? So am I, but Ron Gardenhire sounds intent on giving Francisco Liriano extra rest between starts.

That can't hurt. Carl Pavano has also been on record as preferring extra rest. I don't know that it will be a straight six-man rotation, but right now I don't see anybody who deserves to be bumped out of the mix entirely when Slowey's ready.

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If you haven't seen this already, read Jerry Crasnick's ESPN piece on concussions in baseball.

There's plenty of speculation now that Justin Morneau won't be back this season. It's all speculation; nobody knows for sure. We do know that even if he stopped having symptoms this week, there's little opportunity for a minor league rehab assignment -- the Twins affiliates were almost universally terrible this season, and only one team made their league playoffs.

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Rob Dibble got bounced from the Nationals broadcast team. Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.

Name that Twin, Part 4

The new mystery Twin is to the right.

Yesterday's was pitcher Loek Van Mil, the Dutch prospect most known for being the tallest man to play professional baseball (he's 7-foot-1.)

But of more immediate interest: He suffered a partial tear of his UCL in 2008 and has not undergone Tommy John surgery. He's rehabbed and pitched with it — which is what Joe Nathan hopes to do with his injury.

As I understand it — and any reader who knows more about orthopedics than I do is more than welcome to chime in — this is an option if the damage is close to the muscle, where the ligament is thicker and stronger.

That was the case with Van Mil. Pat Neshek, on the other hand, had his tear close to the bone. His attempt to rehab failed.

I have not seen any published information on where Nathan's tear is. To me, the fact that he's seeking second and third opinions hints that rehab is a realistic option. Or perhaps it's an act of desperation; Nathan is already at an advanced age for a pitcher, and recovering from ligament replacement surgery is not a hasty process.

Getting back to Van Mil: He's raw, he's barely pitched above A ball, and he's no real threat to make the major league roster in 2010, maybe not even 2011. A lot of talent — he's said to have a mid-90s fastball — but not a lot of innings, and coming out of Europe, he was notably inexperienced as an amateur. A real work in progress.