Rich Hill, Baseball’s Most Talked About Finger, and You

Rich Hill’s finger has been an ad-nauseam topic for the past couple years. This past Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds, Hill exited after 5 and 2/3 innings pitched. When he came out of the game, trainers were out looking at the troublesome blister finger. Some horror ensued – the blister heard round the world had returned. Hill was already spent time on the disabled list this season with ‘left third digit inflammation’.

Still, Rich Hill emerged today to let everyone know that the blister and his finger are doing fine.

Rich Hill came out of his bullpen session fine at Marlins Park. He expects to make his next scheduled start. #Dodgers

— . (@THEREAL_DV) May 16, 2018

Hill’s finger needs to be rounded into form for him to get his season back on track. Since six shutout innings in his first outing of the year on April 1st – his only win of the year – he’s had four lackluster starts. Altogether, Hill is 1-2 with a 6.20 ERA. This includes seven home runs allowed and 30 hits in 24.2 innings.

The Dodgers have shown great concern for Hill’s finger health this season, and in the past. His start was scratched by the team back on May 6th against the Padres in favor of Ross Stripling. Humid weather in Mexico was listed as the reason Hill didn’t make the start.

Eternally, the Dodgers have Rich Hill’s finger at the forefront of their concerns. One may wonder if this is the reason for his sudden decline in performance. Obviously, the much-discussed finger has not been well for some time.

I hope to be able to take Hill at his word that all is well. The ultimate truth serum will be his performance this weekend against the Washington Nationals. We should have an answer soon as to whether or not the Dodgers can depend on Hill, and the most discussed finger in team history.

Analysis

When Rich Hill is going well, he’s one of the most effective pitchers in baseball. Out of alignment for much of the year, it’s fair to wonder if he’s completely healthy. Previously, the pitcher has been known to try to tough through this issue in the past, only to have occurrences repeat themselves with the same issue. Indeed, something with Hill’s repertoire causes finger issues. From where we sit – it appears to be the high percentage of curveballs he throws. About 35 percent of the time as a Dodger, Hill has thrown this pitch. In this case, until he’s fully healthy; Hill is probably a liability. This team needs Hill to make it through a few quality outings for them to be able to get back on track.