Ex-Cub Hill could be worth gamble for Orioles

When you are a team like the Baltimore Orioles, stuck in the same division with the big-spending Red Sox and Yankees and suddenly good Rays, you have to take chances to get competitive. And that’s what Baltimore did on Monday in acquiring left-handed pitcher Rich Hill from the Cubs.

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This could be a great move for the O’s, who get a guy who was one of the rising young pitching stars in baseball in 2007 when he went 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 195 innings that season. But Hill experienced a rash of control problems that sent his career from starting a game in the 2007 NL division playoffs to Triple-A Iowa last May. His wildness continued into the minors, as he walked 44 batters in 47 2/3 innings in 13 starts at three different levels. Overall, he went 4-7 with a 5.85 ERA in those 13 outings.

Seeking to correct his problems, Hill traveled to Venezuela this winter, but in nine games for Tigres de Aragua, the left-hander surrendered 23 hits and 23 walks in 21 innings. Overall, he was 1-2 with a 6.86 ERA. Hill was out of options for the Cubs, who either had to keep him on the 40-man roster or potentially lose him for nothing.

“We’ve been talking to the Cubs about Rich for at least a few weeks now,” said Andy MacPhail, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations and a former Cubs boss. “His ability speaks for itself and what he was able to accomplish with the Cubs, and we’re hopeful that with the presence of two of his former pitching coaches, we can get him back to where he was in 2007.”

The Orioles, who still have a couple of spots open in their rotation, are hoping that Hill will rediscover his command in reuniting with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn. Kranitz was Hill’s pitching coach at Triple-A Iowa in 2005 and Dunn coached Hill at Double-A Tennessee in 2005 and Triple-A Iowa in 2006.

This move isn’t exactly going to make Baltimore a contender in baseball’s best division, but it’s the kind of gamble that is low-risk, high-reward – just the type of thing this franchise needs to rely on.

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