Chicago Cubs: Trevor Megill continues to embrace his opportunity

Once an up-and-coming power arm with the San Diego Padres, the 2019 first-round Rule 5 selection of the Chicago Cubs, Trevor Megill, is learning to take things one day at a time.

When the Chicago Cubs chose to select former Padres reliever Trevor Megill in the first round of last year’s Rule 5 draft, they’d hoped to have found a big arm who could help the trajectory of the bullpen this season. So far, through the first couple weeks of spring training, there is a lot to be positive about surrounding Megill.

After being drafted and spending the entirety of his career with San Diego before Chicago snatched him up, Megill seemed to be on a healthy path towards the majors. In 2019 alone, Megill moved through the ranks from Class-A Advanced to Triple-A.

One area of weakness with the Cubs in 2019 was the inconsistency of the bullpen. The numbers show in comparison to the rest of the league that the group was one of the better pens across baseball. However, a 3.98 ERA from your relief core won’t cut it. The addition of Megill will hopefully inject that fire once again, and for Megill, well, he is just embracing the moment.

Chicago Cubs: A sneaky talent ready for the Show

Megill is a big guy. Like, freakishly large. And for a pitcher that does not always seem to bode well. In Megill’s case, however, he embraces his size and puts it to good use when he toes the rubber. Last season, Megill’s actual sample size came in his 50 1/3 innings at Triple-A. There, the 6’8″ reliever posted a whopping 32.3 percent strikeout rate.

Something even more eye-popping was his lack of walks between the three levels, as his highest walk rate came at Triple-A, yet was still below the ten percent threshold, as Megill walked just 8.6 percent of the batters he faced.

Megill is a guy who is mainly reliant on his fastball, and why wouldn’t he rely on his most reliable pitch? For a guy who sits in the mid-’90s with a large frame, the amount of power Megill generates on his fastball alone is impressive. So far this spring, Megill is beginning to come out of his shell to rely not only on his fastball but his curveball as well.

Through his first couple of outings, Megill has looked relatively sharp. His fastball has touched 97 mph, which is a great sign. He is beginning to utilize pitches that last season were not as frequent, and with the work with pitching coach Tommy Hottovoy, the improvements are slowly starting to blossom.

Chicago Cubs: Turning the page to new ‘stuff’.

One of the coolest things existing within the organization is the pitch lab, which allows pitchers to analyze everything from spin rate to release and much more. Hottovoy helped Megill begin to utilize the lab to gain a better understanding and usefulness on his pitches. In a piece from Sahadev Sharma of ‘The Athletic’, he goes into detail about Megill and his newfound pitch.

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The Cubs have found success with other arms who have flown relatively under the radar in the likes of Kyle Ryan and Rowan Wick. Putting in the work for Megill means he understands the importance of the pitch lab and, ultimately, how he will find success.

Megill has added a knuckle-curve to his repertoire and is beginning to become more comfortable with that pitch.

We have already seen it during his spring outings and honing it will be the most prominent importance for Megill as we get ever closer to Opening Day.

While his slider is still top-notch and best only to that of his fastball, Megill has managed to record three strikeouts early on in his couple of outings, with two of those strikeouts coming on the curve. Continuing to improve that pitch will help Megill to progress to his goal of being on the opening day roster.