Rich Hill got a blister in his last start, and got yanked in the 2nd today after walking six of the 11 men he faced. Since there is no TV or radio or webcast or carrier pigeon coverage, there is nothing to report yet on his status. The Cubs did just win, 8-6.
What we do know, that Rich has suddenly developed a blister and then had 0 control in his next outing.
What could be causing these things to happen? Have his mechanics changed? If so, is it due to injury, either unknown or undisclosed? Eegads, he has me both concerned and grateful for the pitching depth we have.
Which reminds me, Sean Gallagher and Jose Ascanio were sent to AAA today, and Josh Kroeger was moved to the minor league camp.
Back to Rich Hill, Maddog posted a comment today about Paul Sullivan's speculation after witnessing Hill's performance.
Could Lou Piniella's next big surprise be leaving Rich Hill out of the rotation?.....In the first inning on Thursday, Hill started out throwing seven straight balls, and eight of his first nine pitches were out of the zone. He walked the bases loaded, induced a double play grounder, and then walked the next two men to load the bases again before getting out of the jam with only one run scoring...In the second, Hill walked the leadoff man.
Yes, that's ugly.
Thus far all the talk about the odd-man out in the rotation has centered around Jon Lieber and Jason Marquis, assuming Ryan Dempster is in.
This is Paul's blog entry, not a regular article, so this isn't reporting, but speculating, unless he's being coy. But the lede tells me it isn't based on anything he can point to. Although he leaves us with this teaser
We'll get more on this from Hill and Piniella later, so stay tuned.
Wow, you mean the starter and the manager will talk to the media after the game?!?! Wow, now that's reporting.
Sure, it could happen, but the trigger to settle the rotation is more likely to be a trade. Unless, as I speculate, with at least some transparency about the basis for my speculation, Hill is hurt.
Update Cubs.com says all is well, Hill is healthy and a "lock" for the rotation. We'll see about the health - his next start will be important.
4 comments:
Even if you ignore today, Rich Hill had still walked 8 in 11.1 innings (6.35 per 9). If this was a 5 walks in 3 innings, I wouldn't think twice. Just a terrible outing, but 6 walks in 1.1 innings, which included a double play ball is concerning to say the least.
Since there hadn't been reports of the blister before his last start, I'm not sure I'd say this is the result of that though it couldn't help. His control has been terrible all spring. Lou was even commenting on his wildness prior to the first spring game. In fact, if I recall correctly, Rich Hill was the only starting pitcher prior to games that he had a complaint about.
I don't think Lou likes Rich Hill very much for some reason.
I think Sullivan is probably jumping the gun a bit here, but something is wrong. Injury? Mechanics? I don't know. I think I only saw him pitch a couple innings this spring so I don't know.
6 walks in 1.1 innings is bad enough and now 14 walks in 12.2 innings overall this spring is just terrible enough that Lou is definitely giving thought to what Sullivan said in that article. How much thought? Maybe we'll know more later, but as much as Lou hates walks, I imagine Rich Hill's job is on thin ice at this point.
Furthermore, Lou has been talking for a week now about how good Lieber and Marquis have been (and he's already pretty much given Dempster the 3rd spot) that it's my guess he's already toyed with the idea of having those 3 in the rotation.
This might end up being the biggest story for the Cubs this spring.
Yea, that would change a few narratives.
I'm still recovering from the first pitch of the last game of the NLDS.
At that point I think I become a Rays fan. I'll have to see about getting EI, I guess.
You're going to become a Rays fan? Perhaps the only team more destined to fail than the Cubs? If you're going to switch favorite teams, be wise and pick the Yankees.
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