David Bote did not understand what made Cubs righty Alec Mills so baffling for batters just from watching the starter work. It was not until this month, when the infielder was able to face his teammate, that Bote finally got a firsthand look.

"It's similar to Kyle Hendricks," Bote said, "in that you're like, 'Where's the out pitch?' Or, 'What's getting people so tied up?' And I faced him in Summer Camp, and it was not a fun at-bat.

"I mean, I don't even know what it is. It's just like the speed discrepancies. He's locating his fastball. He gets people off-balance, soft contact."

In Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Reds, Mills rounded out a strong first turn through Chicago's rotation with six solid innings in Cincinnati. The righty limited the Reds to a two-run homer from Nick Castellanos, finishing with 10 outs via grounders, three strikeouts and two walks.

The "speed discrepancies" mentioned by Bote were on display by Mills, too. The righty averaged around 90 mph with his fastballs (four-seam and sinker), sat around 80 mph with his changeup and averaged 67.2 mph (per Statcast) on his slow curveball.

"Really big performance there," Cubs manager David Ross said. "To a man, that starting staff has looked really good."

With that showing by Mills, the Cubs' rotation -- led by Hendricks, followed by Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood, Jon Lester and Mills -- turned in a 1.80 ERA with a 0.63 WHIP over 30 innings in the first five games. They combined for 26 strikeouts, five walks and the fewest hits allowed (14) by any Cubs rotation in a season's first five games dating back to at least 1901 (per research by historian Ed Hartig).

"The preparation was there," Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. "We're probably more surprised with how deep into games most of these guys have gotten, when you're on pretty strict pitch counts.

"The more we can do that early, and the more we can take the burden off of the back end of the bullpen on a consistent basis, I think it's going to put us in a good position to be successful."

Bryant's adventurous return to lineup
Third baseman Kris Bryant returned to the leadoff spot for Wednesday's 12-7 loss to the Reds, following one day off due to soreness in his left elbow. He went 1-for-5 with a two-run double, and he even helped record a curious triple play.

In the seventh inning, Bryant snared a liner off the bat of Shogo Akiyama, stepped on third and fired to first to end the frame. He caught the ball on the fly, according to the ruling on the field, although replays suggest that the ball may have bounced before entering Bryant's glove -- and the play was not reviewable.

Ross has noted that neither Bryant nor the Cubs' training staff considered the elbow issue serious, but he said Wednesday that it will be something the team has to keep a close eye on.

"The elbow feels a little bit better," Ross said. "It's something that we'll probably have to manage a little bit and just make sure he's good on a daily basis. That's one of those things that is a part of just about every swing, so we've got to make sure that thing doesn't flare up and get too aggravated.

"That's obviously why he had the day off [Tuesday]. We'll stay on top of it. He feels good enough to play today, so we'll take that day to day."

Worth noting
• Lefty José Quintana (10-day injured list, left thumb) completed a 28-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday morning, with Hottovy watching the workout via FaceTime. The pitching coach said Quintana threw fastballs, breaking balls and changeups, noting that his next step would be a simulated inning with batters standing in (potentially on Saturday).

"It was good. He looked good," Hottovy said. "Really good, what I would consider his first real bullpen, where he got to work on everything. So that was a real positive."

• The Cubs scored at least one run in seven consecutive innings Tuesday. Per Hartig's research, that marked the first time Chicago achieved that feat since Sept. 6, 2008, when the Cubs also scored in seven straight innings (also in Cincinnati).

Quotable
"I think in my heart I always felt like I belonged. It was just a matter of them giving me the job. Me earning it, and then them giving it to me. Obviously, what happened with [Quintana] is unfortunate, but I just want to take this and run with it and make them make the tough decision." -- Mills