Rich Hill and the "Only two pitches" Issue...

[craig]

From the SunTimes:

 

"I live now like 'What's today going to give me?' I can't say I'm going to be on the team at the end of spring. I have been pretty consistent, though, coming in at the live batting practices with my fastball, changeup, curve and cutter. Now I have the confidence to throw the changeup down and away and the fastball in.''

 

Time will tell, but here we see Hill self-perceiving as a 4-pitch guy! Given how good his curve is or can be, if the other three are servicable, he could excel.

 

We'll see when the games play, of course.

 

As for the 2-pitch charicature, I think the difference between the 2-pitch view and the 4-pitch he's currently claiming is not the addition of two pitches. I think he had three all along, with the cutter being functionally a significantly different pitch from the fastball. Maybe on TV neither we (nor many announcers) recognize the difference. But I believe that Hill was working with curve, fastball, and cutter for most of last season, at least he was during his minor league games. And depending on the quality of the fastball, I think he could accomplish a lot even without adding the change. But if he change can work in addition to the cutter, and if he mixes in a few true 4-seam fastballs now and then as change-of-pace, to keep hitters off the inside edge, to get the up-the-ladder strikeouts, and to keep the radar police satisfied, I think he could be very effective.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

We'll see how good that changeup is. A so-so changeup and his mediocre fastball won't cut it in the bigs as a starter, however good that hook is.

 

I just hope his control is still there. Even w/o the changeup he could be a dominant LOOGY.

[mg420]

We'll see how good that changeup is. A so-so changeup and his mediocre fastball won't cut it in the bigs as a starter, however good that hook is.

 

I just hope his control is still there. Even w/o the changeup he could be a dominant LOOGY.

 

moyer seems to have done well with pretty much only a low 80's fb & a great change. i dont see why hill with a high 80's to low 90's fb & great curve couldn't do something similar.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The control wasn't there today.

[UK1679666180]

Moyer has great command and control, he's also one of the smartest pitchers of the last 20 years. As far as setting hitters up and how he works an entire game, he's right there as the best I've ever seen.

[Jehrico]

We'll see how good that changeup is. A so-so changeup and his mediocre fastball won't cut it in the bigs as a starter, however good that hook is.

 

I just hope his control is still there. Even w/o the changeup he could be a dominant LOOGY.

 

moyer seems to have done well with pretty much only a low 80's fb & a great change. i dont see why hill with a high 80's to low 90's fb & great curve couldn't do something similar.

 

Moyer's an exception to the rule. For every pitcher with stuff similar to Moyer that excels, there's probably 100 that don't last very long in this league.

[Scotti]

Zito has a great curve, less of a fast ball than Hill and a decent change. Zito's never had really good control.

 

There's no reason to think that Hill can't take the stuff he has and learn to pitch really well as a starter in the NL.