"If we've learned one thing about Jed Hoyer's pitching preferences, it's that he'll take funky outlier qualities over velocity every day of the week and twice on Sunday. That is certainly the case with former veteran lefty reliever Hoby Milner, who makes up for a fastball that could barely activate a flux capacitor with a sidearm delivery that leverages extreme angles for major east-west pitch shapes."
"Though his fastball didn't quite average 88 mph last season, Milner relies far more on his sinker and sweeper. Even his changeup sees more usage than his warmer as he leans into that low slot to keep the ball on the ground with most of his pitches landing armside and low. The sweeper actually finds the heart of the zone very frequently, though coming from the batter's hip creates enough deception to keep it from being hit hard in the air too often."
Hoby Milner signed a one-year, $3.75 million deal with the Cubs as a left-handed specialist. Milner features a low sidearm slot that produces extreme east-west movement, relying mostly on a sinker and sweeper while using his changeup more than his fastball. His fastball averaged under 88 mph last season. He has strong splits against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .221/.269/.339 career slash and a .208/.226/.300 line last season with the Rangers. Milner made a career-high 73 appearances last year and has totaled 274 appearances over the past four seasons. The signing carries limited risk and preserves 40-man roster flexibility.
Read at Cubsinsider
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