Adidas410s' Dusty McMillan: Road to the Show

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Name: Dusty McMillan
Hometown: Abilene, TX (Abilene Cooper HS)
Age: 18
Position: Starting Pitcher
Throws: Left
Bats: Left
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 223 lbs

With the 12th pick in the 2006 MLB Amateur draft, the Texas Rangers select Dusty McMillan.

2006 Season Notes
After being drafted in the 1st round by his hometown team, Dusty signed a 2 year contract with the Rangers and was promptly sent to Surprize, AZ where he joined fellow draftees before finishing the summer with the Rangers Class A affiliate, the Clinton Lumberkings, in Clinton, MS. In spring training, McMillan impressed the coaches enough to receive an immediate promotion to the AA Frisco Roughriders, located in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, TX.

2007 Season Notes
Dusty spent the 1st half of the year battling elbow tendonitis (early signs of Tommy John???) that landed him on the 15 day DL and missing 2 starts. However, he was still chosen to start the Texas League All-Star game for the South Division. Despite his stellar on the field performance, he had periodic clashes with manager Dave Anderson over team chemistry that lead to him missing starts on two seperate occasions. After the All-Star break, McMillan was suddenly moved to the bullpen to serve as the teams long innings reliever. This was done without explanation. However, he was not deterred and proceeded to allow only 1 run in 13.2 innings of relief work. Dusty has since returned to the rotation and this report will pick up at the completion of his 1st outing since returning to the rotation. In his last start, he had his best game of the year scattering 3 hits along with 8 K's and 1 BB in earning his 5th win of the season. Please note that Dusty was just called up to the AAA Oklahoma City Redhawks and will be working as the club's primary long reliever.

Career Stats (starting in the 2007 season)

Year|Team|G|GS|W|L|SV|IP|ERA|WHIP|K|BB|HR|CG|SO
2007|AA - Frisco|16|13|5|2|0|71.1|2.79|1.36|68|13|2|0|0
|AAA - OK City|8|5|2|1|0|30|4.19|1.6|18|5|4|0|0

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July 26, 2007

To A Hopeful Rangers Nation:

In an effort to provide our loyal fan base with the most in-depth coverage of what’s going on in the Texas Rangers organization, I (GM Jon Daniels) will write this blog to provide you the with information about the future of your Texas Rangers, specifically a special young man that we acquired with the 12th overall pick in the 2006 Amateur draft…the phenom…Dusty McMillan.

Dusty has come through the minor league ranks at a tremendous pace, having great success at every level of competition since we drafted him 13 short months ago. Due to injuries that have depleted our pitching staff here in Arlington, we have decided to call him up from AA Frisco and move him into a long relief role with AAA Oklahoma City. We feel that this role will allow Dusty exposure to a variety of situations on the mound while allowing us to better control his innings, pitch counts, along with the stresses he will face playing at a level above anything else that he has faced before.

Dusty made his first appearance tonight against the Portland Beavers, the San Diego Padres AAA affiliate. He entered the game in the 5th inning with the RedHawks already down 5-0. He gave us 3 innings of shutout relief while striking out 2 and scattering 4 hits in an 8-2 loss.

I hope this blog can provide you, the fan, with additional information about the future of our organization. I will strive to give detailed information beyond just the box scores and press clippings that can be found with any other organization. From interviews with Dusty to stories about life in the minors…make sure you turn to BlogRangers for all things Dusty McMillan and all things Texas Rangers.

You could use some baseball,

JDaniels

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July 27, 2007

On the road again...

Today I had a second to talk with Dusty as he was heading into the training room. He has already heard about the blog from a family friend and said he's looking forward to reading about himself. Anyways...here's a few quotable quotes regarding his initial impressions of AAA:

- I had really started to get into a groove against AA competition this year. After getting out on the mound last night against live AAA players...wow it was a big step up for me.

- I had former All-Stars Kenny Lofton and Sammy Sosa in the field behind me as they were out on a rehab assignment. The first batter I faced was former Houston Astros Utility man Geoff Blum. It's one thing to be facing a bunch of young guys in lower ball but all of a sudden I'm facing guys that I watched on TV growing up. It was definitely an eye opener but I'm ready for the challenge.

- The arm is feeling good after 3 innings of work last night. Coach Hawkins said my fastball got up to 98 last night which must have been from the adrenaline. I usually top out around 95-96.

- I've been working with the coaches on raising my release point to allow me to extend my arm a bit more and it's definitely helped out. I havent had any soreness in my elbow in over 2 months now and I'm noticing a lot better response on breaking pitches.

- I'm not too concerned about getting into the rotation just yet. We've got a lot of quality arms on the staff and I am focused on doing my best each day to improve mechanics and continue to elevate my game to be ready for the show if and when that day comes.

Well I've gotta catch a plane to Kansas City for the start of our series with the Royals. We're only a few games out of 1st place right now so we need to win as many games as possible. Keep an eye on texasrangers,com as we're actively pursuing a few trades before the July 31 deadline to hopefully get us over the hump and back into the playoffs.

See ya down the road...

JD

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August 10, 2007

So the news has gone from bad to worse for the Rangers. We were in the market for a corner infielder and had the inside track (as you may have heard) on Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera...but as the deadline loomed we were unable to close the deal on any significant trade. The team has now dropped 7 of their last 10 and trail the Angels by 8.5 games.

In better news though...Dusty McMillan has moved into the starting rotation in OK City. His first start was a bit rocky, giving up 6 runs in 4.1 innings. He showed much better command in his outing tonight though as he went 7 innings while giving up only 3 runs. He did allow a 2-run HR in the 7th to tie up the game before the bats brought home the W in the 9th so he took a no-decision in this start. He's relying primarily on his upper 90's fastball but we're slowly working to integrate his other pitches in with greater frequency. Remember, he's only 19 and with some history of arm problems earlier this season, we want to keep a close eye on him. As the Redhawks are likely out of contention for winning a league title, expect to see Dusty working on a 75-80 pitch count for the remainder of the season.

Hopefully next week will provide some better news from the bigs...

JD

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August 28, 2007

A quick update before I board my flight to Chicago. Dusty has been moved back to the bullpen to work asour long reliever. For the most part, he's being used in games that get out of control early. He's getting to pitch 3+ innings at a time without as much stress as he would have in trying to protect a lead. The season wraps up next week in AAA and while it's unlikely that we'll call him up to the Rangers this season...the possibility is still there depending on how many pitches he throws by the end of the season. Our primary concern is keeping his arm in good shape and even though we're in the middle of the pennant chase (3.5 games behind the Angels in the division, 5.5 games behind in the w/c) we aren't going to force him into a situation that could jeopardize his long-term success with the Rangers organization. Eithe way, he'll definitely spend the fall/winter in Surprise, AZ working on his mechanics and developing his aresnal of pitches beyond his fastball. By the way, the changes to his motion this season have seen his fastball top out at 100 mph while consistently hitting 94-97. When he started the year, he was hitting 91-93 and topping out at 95. Keep up the good work Dusty!

Oh...and since football season is just about to start. I wanted to give a shout out to my alma mater, Cornell. Go Big Red!!! :)

JD...out...

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October 27, 2007
Written by Randy Galloway
Arlington, TX - In what will likely go down in team history as one of the dumbest organizational moves ever...Johnboy Daniels and the Texas Rangers have decided to not pick up the option of Dusty McMillan. Every team in baseball came flocking to his door as soon as the Rangers released him. After much deliberation with his family...and out of respect for his late grandparents who were lifelong fans of his new team...Dusty has decided to sign with...

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Financial terms of the 2-year deal were not disclosed but after a sporadic yet impressive spring, Dusty has been assigned to the AA Portland Sea Dogs where he will start the season as the #2 arm in their rotation.

Welcome to Portland, Maine...

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