Piniella: Hill may lose spot

Posted: Friday April 11, 2008 07:18AM ET

Cubs starter Rich Hill's three poor innings and reliever Jon Lieber's 4 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday against the 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.

Chicago Sun Times

Rich Hill, AP

Rich Hill, AP

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Give him one more start and if he stinks again, send him to the bullpen...the Cubs do not have any reason to baby this kid along with the depth they have.

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That's one of the things I love about Lou. He tells the truth. He knows Hill sucks right now and needs to get his crap together. He's not going to coddle him or pat him on the behind and tell him everything's going to be OK.

I'd be happy with either Lieber or Marshall over Hill right now. And, if Lilly keeps pitching the way he has, you can yank him, too and use both of them.

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Pinella hates pitchers. I think he hinted at that back when he managed in Seattle.

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Chicago is a dump!

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Ah, I see Mr. "I HATE EVERYTHING" has graced us with his presence once again today...how lucky we are.

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Will all the talk about Brian Roberts, I thought Bedard should've been the guy they went after. Their lineup + bullpen are good, but they seem short a starter.
There is no way Lilly will put up the numbers he did last year. After Z, it's a bunch of question marks.
I agree with the poster saying it's time to stop baby-ing Hill. I think he's at least 28 and has only shown that he can be a legendary minor league pitcher.

That being said, I'm not a big Sean Marshall fan, although there are worse 5th starters.

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Cleveland is a dump also!

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It's about time a Cubs manager demands accountability from the players. They earn a lot more $ than we all do ( except Broadhead) and we face daily accountability. Way To go Lou!!!

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They can't afford to throw mediocre starters out there. When the playoffs roll around, if they have to face a team like the Rox or D'backs, they will get killed. Especially with Arizona's pitchers, they won't be able to outscore them. Sure the D'backs offense wasn't great last year, but they're looking really good right now, and the Rox are starting to hit finally. The Cubbies have to get a starter if they want to win the pennant this year.

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"broadhead"...too bad it's empty

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I think Piniella has a handle on things. He got them the division last year. He'll probably improve things this year.

However, I'll cry if the Cubs make the Series this year, I'm in Baghdad.

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I agree with Cusbin100. They get paid a lot of money for what they do. He was so crappy last night against Pittsburgh. There's got to be better pitching somewhere. Give him one more start and then yank him if he's not any better

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All I know is that Hill was very tough on the Braves last year. Make sure he's in the bullpen when Atlanta rolls into town. What are we? 8-9 games into the season? I guess it's not too early for panic moves.

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What's a broadhead?

Something you shoot with an bow

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I'm watching every single Cubs game this year--no exceptions. All starters have a bad outing unless you're on the Nolan Ryan level. Hill pitched well in Spring Training.

What is interesting about Lou (as always)...is that he keeps people looking over their shoulder. Pie starts slow? Outta there--here's Reed Johnson. Pignatello--8 straight balls? Here's your ticket to AAA while we bring back Sean Marshall.

Don't mess with Lou. He is in it to win right this second..and won't let anything get in his way, even a bad start or two. Good for him. Too many other managers (hello Dusty) would have let things like this go on for months...since "we're all professionals"......

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hey it may take him a little time to return to his form of last year, but he should still be in there pitching. does anyone remember how zambrano was not too many years ago?

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or just early last year?

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The headline should actually read:

"Owners: Piniella may lose spot."

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i dont think you get the joke
its ok
keep trying

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and what kind of met fan has reyes as his pic after last season The kind that doesnn't really follow baseball
way to make em eran it

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