Dodgers News: Analyzing Three Takeaways from Game Three

It’s Going to be Fun to Watch Rich Hill Pitch

Rich Hill threw 75 pitches in the win yesterday.  Though the control was not pin-point – he walked three batters and only collected 46 strikes – the curveball was spectacular. It looked like a $48 million curveball, in fact.

Hill allowed only two hits and was lifted after being nailed by a 92-mph fastball, luckily on the non-throwing right hand. The hand was hurt, but not injured – X-rays after the game were negative and Hill laughed it off, saying it made him “feel like a baseball player.”

Opposing batters including Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe and Travis Jankowsi were looking like something less than baseball players on various swings as the trajectory and arm-angle on Hill’s multi-plane curveball vexed hitters all night. Renfroe did eventually garner revenge on Hill, lofting an impossibly high fly ball out to center for a home run in the fourth inning.

The one mistake was a small price to pay for seeing Hill round into form. His spring was a bit shaky, but from the cerebral Hill’s perspective, he is always looking into the science of pitching; spin rate, rotations, visual planes and thus is trying new techniques to roll out during the regular season.

As an early indication, Dodger fans should be in for a deluge of masterful parabolas from Hill. It is going to be a fun year watching him pitch.