The Los Angeles Dodgers to this point have only seen flashes of the Rich Hill they re-signed to a three-year, $48 million contract during the offseason. What has carried over from 2016 is the blister trouble the veteran left-hander missed significant time with.
Hill has already endured two stints on the 10-day disabled list this season. He got through five innings on Friday night, allowing one run on two hits to the Cincinnati Reds. But Hill also issued three walks, committed a throwing error, and had stretches of poor command.
“We had a lull for me committing and having aggressiveness,” Hill said. “But in the fourth and fifth innings my pitches were very good, you could see the contrast. I finished up strong. The aggression and conviction behind the pitches was there.”
Unable to consistently locate the strike zone, Hill’s pitch count began to soar early. He walked Reds reliever Jake Buchanan to start the third and needed 35 pitches to get through that inning.
Hill finished at a season-high 98 pitches in his five innings of work; he threw 97 pitches in four innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 3.
“To battle through everything and grind, I feel very good,” Hill said. “It’s the consistency that’s important.”
While the performance wasn’t quite to the level the 37-year-old pitched at last season with the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts noticed improvement in Hill.
“The lane that he likes to pitch out of and get the baseball to home plate, was much more consistent,” Roberts said. “The fastball had the life in the zone that we like to see, and he was striking the breaking ball. Ball out of the hand was really good.”
On the season, Hill is now 3-2 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in seven starts; the Dodgers are 4-3 in those games. Hill has yet to throw a pitch in the sixth inning this season.
