Loek Van Mil Sent To Minors Camp

Loek Van Mil was a long shot to break camp in the Angels rotation. After his velocity was down, his stay in Tempe was cut shorter than he had hoped. The 27-year-old right handed reliever was reassigned to the minor-league camp on Tuesday. Van Mil joined the Angels in 2010 as the player to be named later from the Twins in the Brian Fuentes trade. He threw 66.1 innings of 2.04 ERA and 3.95 FIP (fielding independent pitching) ball at Double-A in 2011. But with no real out pitch and a 6.24 K/9, Van Mil is likely destined for another year at Double-A. Van Mil wasn’t caught off guard…

"“It was expected,” said Van Mil, 27, who is known as one of the most likeable players in the clubhouse and billed in the Angels media guide as the tallest player in professional baseball.“I was trying to prolong my stay on this side as long as possible, but it’s back to the real world now.”The dejected Van Mil has spent six seasons in the minors and doesn’t know how much baseball he has left."

Oh, right. Did I mention he’s 7 friggin feet tall? The 7’1 Dutchman was signed by the Twins in 2005 as non-draftee free agent but has never pitched above Double-A. He’ll probably never make it to the Majors and it sounds like the grind of the minors is starting to get to him. I’m rooting for him though and not just because he’s freakishly tall. His full name is Ludovicus Jacobus Maria van Mil!

I have an idea for his post baseball career. Despite his reputation as a nice guy, I’d like to suggest becoming a real life Bond villain with that name and height. At the very least, he could be a henchman for my evil plot to take over the MLB Network and zap Harold Reynolds with my sabermetric-ray. Mu-haw-haw. *strokes white cat*

Hmm. Even my evil day dreams are getting pretty nerdy.