Cubs Find their Thrill in Rich Hill
Lost among the stories of how pathetic the 2006 Cubs have been is the story of Rich Hill. Hill, a 26-year-old rookie out of Michigan, entered this season as the biggest enigma in the minor leagues. He absolutely dominated AA and AAA over the last 2 seasons, as the minor-league-player-of-the-year put up Pedro 1999 numbers. Well, he wasn't quite that good, but you know what I mean. Every time he got to the bigs, however, he totally crapped himself on the mound. Last year in four starts he was 0-2 with a 9.13 ERA and in his first four starts this year he was 0-4 with a 9.31 ERA. He was also the pitcher on the mound when this happened (and got demoted the next day). Lots of baseball purists labeled him a 4A pitcher and it was getting awfully hard to disagree with them. His opportunities were sporadic, however, and the statheads were clinging to "manager misuse" as the primary reason for his failure. Me? I straddled the line. I advocated giving him the job in spring training because he had nothing more to prove at the minor league level. But Sean Marshall beat him out and I was OK with that. Then, since the Cubs were out of it by mid-May, I wanted to put him in the rotation for the rest of the season to see once and for all what he could do with an extended opportunity. He came up but it didn't last. At this point, I thought he still had a chance for Major League success but that it likely wouldn't come until he left the Cubs and found a coach that could mentor a soft-tossing left-hander, ala Jamie Moyer.
Finally, in August, after trading Greg Maddux and putting Marshall on the DL, the Cubs were scraping the bottom of the barrel for pitchers and decided to give Hill one last shot. Did he ever take advantage! Since that time, he's 6-2 with a 2.65 ERA in 10 starts. He's been especially awesome in his last 5 starts. 3-0, 0.97 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 5.83 SO/BB. That's Johan Santana, folks. He's been one of the few bright spots this season, and I think he's one of only two locks for the rotation next season (Zambrano, of course, being the other.)
So is Dusty Baker to blame for Hill's early demise? No. Hill simply didn't pitch well enough to stay in the rotation and there was a pennant to be won, so I can't blame Dusty for the repeated demotions. Hill himself stated in an online diary that his last trip to Iowa helped him immensely. To use the overused and blatantly ridiculous phrase for a non-baseball player to make, I think Hill finally "gets it," and that he's primed for success for years to come. I think he has a decent chance at avoiding the Cub's curse, too, because he's already 26 and past that tender age where overuse blows out young arms.
So three cheers for Rich Hill, one of the few bright spots in a dismal season. Hill! Hill! Hill!