Kansas City Royals: Getting to know undrafted free agent signings
By Cody Rickman
John McMillon, RHP Reliever (22-years-old)
John McMillon is a 6’3”, 230 pound right-handed reliever from Texas Tech University. He ranked #357 on Baseball America 500. In four years at Texas Tech, McMillon accumulated 189 strikeouts in 145.1 innings.
McMillon has been a consistent performer out of the bullpen for Texas Tech University, he struggled in his 12 starts in 2018 and returned to the bullpen full time in 2019. The Detroit Tigers made McMillon an 11th round draft pick in 2019 when the Red Raiders were amongst the final four in the 2019 College World Series. He decided to return college to make another run winning a national championship.
McMillon is a power reliever who has an overhand delivery, which helps disguise his breaking ball. He typically throws his fastball in the mid to upper-90s mph and can rear back and fire 100 mph.
McMillon uses his legs well to drive off the mound and regularly gets on top of the ball to throw pitches with velocity low in the zone. He’s shown a curveball with good two-plane movement with solid depth making it an above-average offering. He throws a hard slider/cutter that features late movement and has the potential to another above average pitch in his arsenal.
The Royals got lucky with McMillon refusing the Tigers’ offer in 2019 and continuing his career at Texas Tech in 2020 because he figures to be a fast-moving reliever in the Royals farm system. He needs to work on consistently throwing strikes to allow his above-average stuff work. There is a lot of potential here for a late-inning reliever.