Alec Mills

[Brandon Glick]

Alec Mills is a former MLB pitcher who spent seven years in the big leagues, including parts of five seasons with the Chicago Cubs.

Mills had a crazy baseball journey on his way to the big leagues, originally appearing in college baseball as a walk-on at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He was a disaster as a reliever in his freshman (8.51 ERA) and sophomore (6.82 ERA) seasons, though a conversion to the rotation in his junior campaign immediately yielded better results (3.94 ERA). The Kansas City Royals thought enough of his junior year leap to draft him in the 22nd round of the 2012 MLB Draft, and he would spend the next four years in their system (and make his MLB debut in 2016) before getting DFA'd in February 2017.

The Cubs, fresh off a World Series championship, acquired Mills for prospect Donnie Dewees in what was seen as a big overpay at the time. However, the Cubs, having just lost Jason Hammel to the Royals in free agency, needed more starting pitching depth ahead of their title defense. The trade worked out for Chicago, as Dewees never lived up to his prospect billing, failing to reach the majors and eventually returning to the Cubs' system after being released by the Royals a few years later.

Mills was shuttled between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago for the first few years of his Cubs tenure, though in 2020 he began the year in the rotation as José Quintana dealt with injuries after the pandemic-delayed season began. He proved to be a serviceable back-end rotation arm, pitching to a 4.48 ERA in 62 1/3 innings that season. But, on one special afternoon on September 13, 2020, Mills made history, authoring the 16th no-hitter in Chicago Cubs franchise history.
 

Since then, the Cubs have thrown two team no-hitters, one started by Zach Davies in 2021 against the Dodgers, and one started in 2024 by Shota Imanaga against the Mets. It was the first Cubs no-hitter since the second of Jake Arrieta's no-no bids in 2016, and the latest complete game no-hitter by a Cubs pitcher as of this writing in July 2025.

Thanks to his success in 2020, Mills got a full-time gig in the Cubs' rotation again in 2021, pitching to a 5.07 ERA in 119 innings. Injuries and underperformance limited his time on the big league roster afterward, and he would eventually be let go from the organization following the 2022 season. In 253 innings with the Cubs, Mills pitched to the tune of a 4.84 ERA (4.79 FIP) across 66 appearances (39 starts).

Following his time in Chicago, Mills made one appearance with the Reds in 2023. He is currently an MLB free agent and has not pitched professionally in two years.

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