While Megill, 27, possesses the type of velocity that makes him attractive as a reliever — he averaged 96.3 mph on his four-seam fastball in 2021 — he didn’t miss many bats with the pitch, which accounted for 63.3% of his pitches thrown. Too many of those caught the middle of the plate, and hitters feasted, batting .364 with a .636 slugging percentage off his four-seamer. His main secondary pitch, a curveball, got slugged as well when it wasn’t generating whiffs, as batters owned a .350 average and .700 slugging percentage against it. There were moments Megill flashed really good stuff, reflected in his 26.1% strikeout rate and limited walks (eight in 28 relief outings). But the Cubs need more reliability from Megill, particularly with his fastball location, if he’s going to be more than an extra arm on the shuttle back and forth between the majors and Triple A.
