Dodgers southpaw Rich Hill has made just one appearance in relief since he revived his career in 2015, but it’s possible he’ll finish the season in bullpen when he comes off the injured list, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register relays. Hill has been out since June 20 with a flexor tendon strain, and while his recovery’s going well, he may not have enough time to build up his arm strength for a return to the Dodgers’ rotation. “Ideally, starting is the priority,” said Hill, but he’s just eager to “get back to pitching” in some capacity. Meanwhile, utilityman Chris Taylor – who fractured his left forearm July 14 – remains hopeful he’ll come back at the low end of the four- to six-week period the Dodgers said he would miss. Taylor will first have to embark on a rehab assignment, though, and he hasn’t progressed to that point yet.
More from the NL…
- Cubs reliever Brandon Kintzler is dealing with pectoral discomfort, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to report. The Cubs will have more information on Kintzler on Tuesday, but a stint on the injured list would be another unwelcome development for a bullpen that just lost closer Craig Kimbrel to the IL. Kintzler has rebounded from a rocky 2018 to serve as one of the Cubs’ go-to bullpen arms this season. The 35-year-old right-hander has pitched to a 2.33 ERA/3.45 FIP with 7.77 K/9, 1.94 BB/9 and a 53.3 percent groundball rate in 46 1/3 innings.
- The Phillies are “optimistic” injured lefty reliever Adam Morgan will pitch again this year, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. A second opinion confirmed Morgan won’t need surgery after a flexor strain forced him to the IL on Aug. 2. He won’t return to throwing for two weeks, however, and that’s assuming he gets through that time frame without pain. Morgan owns a 3.94 ERA/4.33 FIP with 8.8 K/9 and 3.03 BB/9 across 29 2/3 frames. Lefties have hit a horrid .143/.250/.204 against him.
- The Brewers sent one of their top starters, righty Zach Davies, to the IL with a back issue on Monday. Davies discussed the problem with Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters, saying he’s “not concerned” it’ll lead to a lengthy absence. Davies has fallen flat over his most three most recent outings, though the wild card-contending Brewers can ill afford to go without another starter for a long period. They were already sans their No. 1, Brandon Woodruff, as well as Jhoulys Chacin before Davies hit the shelf. To this point, Davies has defied underwhelming peripherals to post a solid 3.74 ERA in 122 2/3 innings.
More news from the NL:
The Braves are heading for another collapse similar to 2011.
AAA title chance though!
No mention of the Braves in this article. Might be time to find some work.
Yea I went back over the article and failed to see a correlation with the Braves. Chalk this one up to a disgruntled Blue Jays fan.
Please get help…..
The Braves are heading for another collapse similar to 2011.
———————————————————-
I love the innumerates among us. FWIW, and I doubt you’ll understand any of this, but here is the Braves’ last 11 games:
3 @ Washington
3 @ Philly
4 @ home v Cincy
1 @ MN
Their expected win value is ~ 5, yet they won 6.
In addition, the games that they lost, they faced:
Corbin
Nola
Wood
Gray
Odorizzi
You should educate yourself on baseball before posting.
I think he might be John Coppolella…
rich hill needs to retire now he was gutless in the world series in the 4th game said he was tired in the 6th inning after pitching a one hitter.
You’re a moron
A moron, but he doesn’t mind sharing that with the world.
I don’t understand why posters purposely embarrass themselves, even if anonomously.
Yes, he is a moron.
Bluemarc, you type from a place of great ignorance. Do you know anything about the man? He’s an intense competitor. No, he is not a HOF’er, but he is respected by many in baseball through his conduct and character and how he has continued to adapt his repertoire to compete at the MLB level.
Troll
Someone needs to give bluemarc his blankey.
stop talking, dude
The Dodgers have a wealth of rotation options after Kershaw, Buehler, and Ryu, but I’m sure they’d rather have Hill as the potential fourth starter in the postseason instead of May or Gonsolin.
Just as well no one took bluesarcs bait
Badda Bing!
Hill’s injury history kinda points that maybe he should have been a reliever all along, no?
No.
There goes another Cub pitcher.
Time for rebuild. Wait, didn’t they just rebuild?!
Too many injuries. They are too old.
Running out of material?
Is there an announcer worse than Ben Davis?
Tom McCarthy
Rich Hill looks like a guy flipping up bp