Photo Credit: Chris Vleisides/Kansas City Royals
MARTIN, Tenn. – Alec Mills became the first University of Tennessee at Martin baseball alumnus to appear in a major league baseball game Wednesday evening when he made his big league debut for the defending world champion Kansas City Royals.
Promoted from Double-A affiliate Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday, May 18, Mills made a relief appearance in the top of the eighth inning of a split doubleheader nightcap against the Boston Red Sox. Pitching in front of a crowd of 23,739 fans in Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., he allowed one run in 0.2 innings of work against the top of the Boston lineup.
Mills earned his spot on the Royals’ active roster after posting dominant numbers at the minor league level in 2016. He had been 1-1 with a 2.36 ERA in seven appearances (all starts), leading the Texas League with 44 strikeouts against just six walks over 42 innings. After allowing one run over five innings in his season debut, he reeled off six consecutive quality starts for the Naturals, including a pair of nine-strikeout performances.
Wednesday’s appearance was a culmination of Mills’ ascension through the Kansas City farm system. The 6-foot-4-inch, 205-pound right-hander was officially added to the Royals’ 40-man roster on Nov. 20, 2015, shortly after he was named as the organization’s top pitching prospect by
MLBPipeline.com. He was responsible for 15 wins, nine saves, a 2.86 ERA and 299 strikeouts in 77 appearances (51 starts) in his minor league career before getting the call-up.
Before Kansas City nabbed Mills in the 22
nd round of the 2012 MLB Draft, the Clarksville, Tenn., native was a key hurler for UT Martin from 2010-12. He is still located in the Skyhawks’ top-10 list in career appearances (67, sixth), strikeouts (165, sixth), wins (13, seventh) and innings pitched (192, 10
th). He was the winning pitcher in UT Martin’s first-ever postseason victory as a Division-I member, conceding just one earned run in 7.2 innings against Eastern Kentucky in the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference tournament.