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July 31, 2008 Twins Prospect Leaves Beloit for Beijing, Via the Netherlands

Loek Van Mil is greeted by Beloit catcher Jair Fernandez (photo courtesy of Erik VanDyck)

There's something wrong about calling Minnesota Twins prospect Loek Van Mil a late-bloomer. When the native of the Netherlands signed with the Twins in July 2005, at age 20, he had already graduated high school early and earned a college degree in economics. He was thinking about law school before deciding instead to pursue a baseball career in North America.

In baseball terms, however, the Twins have a 7-foot-1 right-hander who didn't start pitching until he was 17. He's remains a raw talent with impressive upside. At 23, Van Mil is old for the Class-A Midwest League, but in time may be a late-bloomer for the Twins.

Van Mil, whose first name is pronounced similar to "Luke" and goes by that name, has spent the 2008 season in the Beloit Snappers bullpen. He left the team two weeks ago for a career detour that few ballplayers experience. The promising prospect will pitch for the Dutch team in the Beijing Olympics. He is part of a small, close-knit group of guys who have played together for a number of years, growing up in a country that overwhelmingly favors soccer over baseball.

The Olympics also provide a chance to see China, where side trips to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall will add to the memories. It's a "dream come true," said Van Mil. "I'm thrilled to represent my country." He countered quickly, though, when asked to compare the significance of the Olympics to eventually reaching the major leagues.

"They're two separate things," he said with a smile. "The major leagues is my goal and the Olympics are just a stop on my way there. It's a good experience, and it'll help me develop. Maybe the competition that I face there might be better than the low-A hitters I face here."

Van Mil started playing baseball as a seven-year-old in Oss, his hometown in the south of the Netherlands, a two-hour train ride south from Amsterdam. Baseball gained popularity in the region during World War II. Robert Eenhoorn, a former shortstop from Rotterdam who played 37 games for the Yankees in the mid-1990s, said his father played baseball during the war years, when Dutch kids took up the game in defiance of the country's German occupiers.

Interest in baseball is still not widespread, but the game continues to grow and more players are signing with major league clubs. The Dutch team will be the only European representative competing in Beijing, and Eenhoorn will coach his countrymen.

Soccer still reigns supreme, and that made taking up baseball all the more alluring to Van Mil. He said he was motivated to do something hardly anyone else was doing. It was some of that same spirit that made the game take root in his homeland in the first place.

Van Mil spent six years catching until he had grown to 6-foot-6 at age 14. It wasn't only his height that moved him out from behind the plate; a knee injury that required surgery to repair meniscus forced the decision. By the time he had recuperated, he was 15 and 7-feet tall.

Two more years passed before Van Mil took the mound. It was in his early days as a pitcher that the Twins took notice, and they scouted him for close to three years before signing him. Van Mil said his parents stood by him when he had to choose one professional path over another.

"They'll support me whatever I do," Van Mil said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I can always go back to school. I can't do this when I'm 28; I can go back to school when I'm 28."

As a young player, Van Mil said he tended to throw like a second baseman, leading with his arm and throwing the ball from the side. He pitched sidearm when he moved to the mound, and his arm slot and mechanics weren't taking advantage of his size. Van Mil said he never broke 90 mph in the year before he signed.

A few mechanical tweaks were the first order of business when Van Mil reached the United States. Then-Twins scout Larry Corrigan worked with Van Mil to change his arm slot.

"With my height, you want to use your angle to get the ball from high to low," Van Mil explained. "If you throw sidearm, the angle isn't by far as big as or as difficult to hit as the one you create when you come from high to low. Overhand wasn't really comfortable to me, so it's a high three-quarter."

The changes weren't a complete overhaul. Even with his build and long limbs, he didn't have "a delivery that looks like a train wreck," according to then-Twins minor league pitching coordinator Rick Knapp. And from that new arm angle, the ball looked like it was coming out of the sky.

Of course, being 7-foot-1 draws plenty of attention everywhere he goes. Soon after joining the Twins organization, Van Mil was often seen around the practice field wearing a t-shirt with the message "Don't Ask." The answers were on the back: "7-foot-1. No, I don't play basketball." Somehow the shirt wasn't enough to quiet all curiosity, which Van Mil found humorous.

"If people would see the front, they would say 'Don't ask what?'" he said. "And if they read the back, they'd ask me, 'Are you really 7-foot-1?'"

Van Mil is good-natured talking about his height, about the Olympics, or any subject. He received a steady flow of attention from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois news sources in the weeks leading up to his Beloit departure for the Netherlands on July 20.

There's also been the national exposure of an early-season photograph taken by Beloit's Director of Media Relations Erik VanDyck. It features Van Mil resting his elbow on the head of 5-foot-2 teammate and second baseman Chris Cates. ESPN sent a camera crew to Beloit, where the two did a segment for ESPN's morning show, "First Take." The photo also appeared in Sports Illustrated.

Both Van Mil and Cates have faced stereotypes choosing a baseball career. Cates fights the assumption he isn't big enough to make it as a pro. Van Mil is expected to be clumsy and lack coordination. He has shown he is much more athletic than the stereotype would suggest, and he works with a fairly fluid motion. Because of his relative inexperience, repeating his delivery and arm slot consistently can be a challenge. He has spent a lot of time with Beloit pitching coach Gary Lucas, executing drills to reinforce muscle memory.

Lucas said Van Mil has progressed nicely this season.

"His velocity has improved this whole season to the point where several times he's been in that 94-95 (mph) area," Lucas said. "Those nights he's probably averaging 91-93."

The quality of his pitches has improved as well. Van Mil said his high-80s slider has picked up roughly 5 mph without losing any break. Lucas added that Van Mil gets excellent tilt on his slider from the higher arm angle. His changeup isn't as far along, as he's had little experience developing a feel for the pitch. Command of it will take time, though Lucas said Van Mil has used the pitch more than many of the other two-pitch hurlers on the Beloit staff.

"He's shown flashes of major league stuff," noted Lucas. "With his above-average fastball at times and his above-average slider, he's learning how to be aggressive with that combination night after night."

During a three-week stretch in June, Van Mil held opponents scoreless in seven consecutive relief appearances. Over 10 innings, he allowed just five hits and struck out six, though he also walked seven. After his seventh scoreless outing on June 28, Van Mil was 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA, a .205 opponent batting average and 36 strikeouts in 37 innings on the season.

Then Van Mil endured a rough outing his first time out in July, allowing four runs over 1.2 innings to a powerhouse Clinton club. It's the only outing all season that he allowed more than two earned runs. When Van Mil left for Europe to prepare for the Olympics nearly two weeks ago, he had worked 28 games and 44.2 innings -- all in relief -- posting a 3.22 ERA and .221 OBA. He struck out 42 but walked 25.

"Overall I'm pleased," Van Mil said, then laughed. "If I could take five pitches back, that would make my season a lot better."

This was his first year of full-season ball after pitching well in rookie leagues the two previous summers. He hasn't started since he pitched in the Gulf Coast League in 2006, but he continues to work on a changeup to keep open the option of starting again some day.

Van Mil will be a reliever in Beijing, as he was for Team Netherlands in the 2007 World Cup. He closed for the Dutch in the November tournament, worked in the low-to-mid 90s, and dominated with a 0.71 ERA in 13 innings. A relief role is fine with him.

"It doesn't matter," said Van Mil. "It's the same thing -- starting and relieving you have to throw strikes to get people out. There's no difference to me."

When pressed further, the Olympian admitted he would like to start in the long run, but "I'm fine with what I do." He said getting more consistent as a pitcher, from arm slot to mechanics to velocity, will be critical to moving up in the pro ranks.

For now, Van Mil is focused on baseball in Beijing. He's expected to return to Beloit with a week remaining in the minor league season. He's hoping the Snappers extend their season into September by reaching the Midwest League playoffs.

The developmental process took him to both Beloit and Beijing in 2008. He'll continue to refine his game as he works his way through the Twins system, and in time it's conceivable he'll reach 100 mph with his fastball and 90 mph with the slider. Lucas believes Van Mil has the makeup to get there someday.

"The kid is a great kid," Lucas said. "He's enthusiastic, loves the game, loves the opportunities he sees this affords him down the road. But he's trying to play catch-up a bit here. So, it is a process."

If he catches up and finds his way to the majors, Van Mil, for the first time in his life, will be a late-bloomer.

"Thom's Take" will take a week off and return August 14.

Thom Henninger is a senior writer at STATS LLC. Over the years he has served as an editor and contributed to The Scouting Notebook and numerous STATS publications. You can reach him at henninger@stats.com.