- Cubs starter Rich Hill's three poor innings and reliever Jon Lieber's 4 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates might be raising ideas about how to fix what's wrong with the pitching staff.
''We've got to get that straightened out,'' manager Lou Piniella said of Hill's problems, which go back to the start of spring training.
Asked whether he might take Hill out of the rotation to let him work out his issues, given a wealth of starting depth in Lieber and Sean Marshall, Piniella suggested that would be an option.
''I'm going to sit down and talk to our pitching coach about that,'' Piniella said. ''I want what's best for Hill. We've got to get him straightened out. That's the important thing.''
One option would be for Hill to go to the bullpen, trading places with Lieber, who just missed earning a spot in the rotation after a strong spring and has yet to allow an earned run in three outings, spanning 9 1/3 innings.
Handed a 1-0 lead before he took the mound, Hill immediately put the Cubs in a 3-1 hole by allowing the first four Pirates to reach base, including back-to-back walks to the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters. By the time he finished the next two innings, he had thrown 72 pitches and was done.
''In the first inning, he was aiming the ball,'' Piniella said. ''I asked him after the end of the first inning to go out there and cut it loose and throw the darn thing, and he was a little better. But he was already at 75 pitches, and he was all over the place with the ball.
''There was no sense keeping him in there. He wasn't going to get better. Not tonight, anyway.''
Hill said he knew the overtaxed bullpen needed a lengthy start from him, but he didn't feel he pressed because of that and didn't seem concerned about the results.
''That's no indication of who I am as a pitcher,'' he said, ''but just something that I've got to go through. It's over with, and I'm looking forward to the next start.
''I'm not by any means worried about it. I've just got to go out there again and put it behind me and look forward to the next outing.''
''We've got to get that straightened out,'' manager Lou Piniella said of Hill's problems, which go back to the start of spring training.
Asked whether he might take Hill out of the rotation to let him work out his issues, given a wealth of starting depth in Lieber and Sean Marshall, Piniella suggested that would be an option.
''I'm going to sit down and talk to our pitching coach about that,'' Piniella said. ''I want what's best for Hill. We've got to get him straightened out. That's the important thing.''
One option would be for Hill to go to the bullpen, trading places with Lieber, who just missed earning a spot in the rotation after a strong spring and has yet to allow an earned run in three outings, spanning 9 1/3 innings.
Handed a 1-0 lead before he took the mound, Hill immediately put the Cubs in a 3-1 hole by allowing the first four Pirates to reach base, including back-to-back walks to the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters. By the time he finished the next two innings, he had thrown 72 pitches and was done.
''In the first inning, he was aiming the ball,'' Piniella said. ''I asked him after the end of the first inning to go out there and cut it loose and throw the darn thing, and he was a little better. But he was already at 75 pitches, and he was all over the place with the ball.
''There was no sense keeping him in there. He wasn't going to get better. Not tonight, anyway.''
Hill said he knew the overtaxed bullpen needed a lengthy start from him, but he didn't feel he pressed because of that and didn't seem concerned about the results.
''That's no indication of who I am as a pitcher,'' he said, ''but just something that I've got to go through. It's over with, and I'm looking forward to the next start.
''I'm not by any means worried about it. I've just got to go out there again and put it behind me and look forward to the next outing.''
