Rich Hill

[CubfaninCA]

Maddux sucked his first year in the majors. So did a lot of future good pitchers. Hill has been up and down, up and down. The same way with Mitre and a few others. Heck, Dusty couldn't decide who to throw in the bullpen in Z or Cruze.

 

It is way too early to tell on Hill. The Cubs have to give him at least 6 or 7 consecutive starts to see if he can do it. I wouldn't even look at the W/L record. I'd look at ks, bb, k/bb, GB:FB and all sorts of "unimportant" numbers to judge Hill by.

 

They seem to do this with all rookies, "produce now are get out" while the give the "proven vet" much more time.

 

maddux was 21 in his first full season. hill's 26. big difference.

[badger1679666666]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

While what you say is true in theory, a guy with one major league pitch isn't gonna succeed, at least not as a starter for long. His fastball is average at best.

 

Are you talking about velocity or location?

 

If it's veloicty, save it.

 

Both plus movement, plus he's older, plus he hasn't looked good at all last year or this at the ML level.

[Guest]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

While what you say is true in theory, a guy with one major league pitch isn't gonna succeed, at least not as a starter for long. His fastball is average at best.

If he locates his fastball better, it's an average MLB fastball for a lefty. Given an average fastball, he can succeed with the near plus-plus curve.

[Mizzou]

Hill sucks. NO pitcher is going to be successful by throwing a fastball and a curveball. I don't care how good his AAA numbers are... he hasn't done anything at the ML level to show that he might be a good major league pitcher.

 

I've never thought much of Hill.

 

Barry Zito???????!!!!!

Zito throws a 4 seamer, a 2 seamer, a changeup, and of course a curveball. He has four pitches, not two.

[badger1679666666]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

While what you say is true in theory, a guy with one major league pitch isn't gonna succeed, at least not as a starter for long. His fastball is average at best.

If he locates his fastball better, it's an average MLB fastball for a lefty. Given an average fastball, he can succeed with the near plus-plus curve.

 

Maybe you're right. But with woody back in 2 weeks, Hill is gonna be the first one down, and even if he's not and Gooz goes, when Prior comes back he's gonna be back down. He's not get more than 2-4 ML starts this year. It's gonna be tough to work on that location which is so much more imperitve with ML'ers vs. AAA'ers.

[CubfaninCA]

kid's had 11 major league appearances now and he's 26 and hasn't looked good. there's reason for concern. his era is over 10 is five starts now.

[coreyMVP]

badger has nailed it repeatedly in this thread--Hill has one pitch, and that does not a major league pitcher make.

The difference between good organizations (Atlanta) and bad ones (Cubs) is the ability to recognize who is a legitimate prospect and who is not. Hill had decent value last year and maybe even this year, if he was left in AAA to accumulate good numbers. Unfortunately, after he succeeds in proving he is a AAAA pitcher with a few more appearances, he will be severely devalued.

[CubinNY]

badger has nailed it repeatedly in this thread--Hill has one pitch, and that does not a major league pitcher make.

The difference between good organizations (Atlanta) and bad ones (Cubs) is the ability to recognize who is a legitimate prospect and who is not. Hill had decent value last year and maybe even this year, if he was left in AAA to accumulate good numbers. Unfortunately, after he succeeds in proving he is a AAAA pitcher with a few more appearances, he will be severely devalued.

 

Since when has having more than two pitches become a prerequisit for being a successful starter?

 

As Tim and I have stated, it is way too early to judge Hill. The Cubs cannot constantly yank a guy from AAA to the majors, and then from starter to reliever, and then from the majors to AAA and expect that pitcher to be successful. That is exactly what the Cubs have done with Hill among others.

 

Hill needs a decent # of starts to show if he can do it (and I'm not saying he can). And he needs to know that if he has a bad outing or two his bags are not headed to Iowa. An organizations needs to do everyithing in its power to set up the young player for success.

[abuck1220]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

nope. if a group of impatient cub fans who have never checked a minor league box score, let alone listened to a minor league game on the radio or watched one in person is ready to give their expert opinion on somebody they've seen throw 20 innings, then by golly, i'm on board.

[sethuel1]

when Prior comes back

 

BWAHAHHAHAHAHAA

[Chocolate Milk]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

nope. if a group of impatient cub fans who have never checked a minor league box score, let alone listened to a minor league game on the radio or watched one in person is ready to give their expert opinion on somebody they've seen throw 20 innings, then by golly, i'm on board.

 

I agree. There is no reason to criticize Hill on any level whatsoever. Anyone who does so has no idea what they are talking about and probably didn't know Rich Hill existed until yesterday.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

nope. if a group of impatient cub fans who have never checked a minor league box score, let alone listened to a minor league game on the radio or watched one in person is ready to give their expert opinion on somebody they've seen throw 20 innings, then by golly, i'm on board.

 

I agree. There is no reason to criticize Hill on any level whatsoever. Anyone who does so has no idea what they are talking about and probably didn't know Rich Hill existed until yesterday.

 

I disagree with the notion that anyone who does not like Hill is uninformed or has less baseball knowledge than anyone else. There are more than impatient fans that are less than impressed with him. I know his minor league numbers, I've seen his boxscores, I've listened to the radio, and I've seen him pitch in person. I am not, and never have been, a fan of Rich Hill's. If he makes it big, fine. I don't ever see it happening, and you won't hear me calling anyone stupid for thinking otherwise.

[abuck1220]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

nope. if a group of impatient cub fans who have never checked a minor league box score, let alone listened to a minor league game on the radio or watched one in person is ready to give their expert opinion on somebody they've seen throw 20 innings, then by golly, i'm on board.

 

I agree. There is no reason to criticize Hill on any level whatsoever. Anyone who does so has no idea what they are talking about and probably didn't know Rich Hill existed until yesterday.

 

your sarcasm holds a lot of truth.

[Shavo]

Hill needs to develop a cutter and a change. He could be dominate against rightes with a nasty cutter.

[Proven Veteran]

Hill needs to develop a cutter and a change. He could be dominate against rightes with a nasty cutter.

 

Dominant.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Hill needs to develop a cutter and a change. He could be dominate against rightes with a nasty cutter.

 

Dominant.

 

Grammar is highly overrated, eh?

[TXCubsFan]

Everyone:

 

It is far too early to say whether Hill is going to be a success or not. Some guys are great initially and can't sustain it. Some guys have a rough start and then dominate. Some guys are awful to begin with and never improve.

 

I don't think Hill has had enough of a chance to adjust to major league hitters yet to say anything about his ability to succeed.

 

I agree. I saw him pitch in Round Rock last month. The Cubs obviously had been working with him to use THREE pitches, with a curve that wasn't his 12-6. He looked like he could be a #3 or #4 pitcher in the majors, BUT, he challenged hitters in 3-1 and 3-2 counts with his fastball that was striking out AAA batters but good major league hitters would have crushed.

 

If Hill can learn to throw his changeup and curve ball effectively in those counts, then he will become a good major league pitcher. Give him time.