It Wasn’t The Prettiest, But That Start Was Rich Hill (+)
PITTSBURGH — Rich Hill’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t start out how he or the team wanted. Through his first two games on the mound in a Pirates’ uniform, Hill’s ERA sat at 10.00.
A big reason for Hill’s struggles in his first two starts was that he was plagued by the long ball. In his first start against Cincinnati, Hill surrendered a pair of homers in the first inning, putting the Pirates in an early hole.
His second start against the White Sox was even more of a struggle. That game, the Pirates’ left-hander was tagged for seven earned runs and served up three home runs in only four innings.
His third start of the season came on Wednesday afternoon in the Pirates’ loss to the Houston Astros and while it might not have been an eye-opening performance, Hill did what he does best. He got the job done.
Hill limited to the Astros to a pair of runs across six innings on seven hits. Despite not recording a strikeout, Hill induced a lot of soft contact and was effective against a righty-heavy Houston lineup.
“I thought he did a heck of a job. He kept them off balance. He was really effective,” manager Derek Shelton said. “He did a nice job from all angles. He did a nice job with his fastball. He was able to land his breaking ball but overall I thought he was really sharp.”
Hill’s performance kept the Pirates in position to win the game, but the Pirates’ offense was silenced and the bullpen allowed five runs in the Bucs’ 7-0 shutout loss to Houston.
“I executed. (The) ball came out of my hand the way I wanted it to and it’s as simple as that,” Hill said on his performance.
The Astros scored for the first time against Hill in the top of the third inning on a Jose Abreu RBI-double into the left-center gap. Corey Julks hit a solo off of Hill the following inning, but Hill retired eight of the last nine batters he faced to walk away with a quality outing.
Hill’s performance on Wednesday was a clear improvement from his first two outings to begin the season.
The 43-year-old Hill doesn’t wow you with velocity. In fact, Hill threw a breaking ball that registered just 65 mph on the radar gun. Still, he kept Astros’ hitters off balance and put his poor performances behind him.
“I do a lot of homework. Days one through four, consistently in the video room and doing a lot of preparation work… So, I think the amount of work doesn’t change and I think the refinement from the first two outings to this outing is really just coming down to how the ball came out of my hand.”
Hill is one of several veterans new to the team this year, but even he has more seniority than the others. Hill is in his 19th season as a big leaguer. His first strikeout came while with the Cubs against the then-Florida Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell in 2005.
That experience has helped Hill in being able to forget about previous bad outings and put his best foot forward.
“I think with anything in life, if you look at someone who’s done something over the course of two decades, it speaks to the experience. I think that’s something that’s valuable in all walks of life is the experience and understanding what you do well and sticking to what you do well,” he said.
Hill’s next came will be an interesting test. The Pirates are hitting the road for a seven-game trip away from Pittsburgh. After four games in St. Louis against the Cardinals, Hill will be the Pirates’ pitcher for the first game in a series against the Rockies in Coors Field.
Hill entered play on Wednesday with a league-high five home runs allowed on his ledger and will next pitch in a stadium notorious for the hitter-friendly reputation in the thin air of Denver, Colorado.
For Hill, who cares if it might not be the prettiest performance if he is able to do something similar to what he did against Houston at PNC Park on Wednesday.