Glendon Rusch has this split in his time with the Cubs...
| IP | H | HR | BB | K | ERA |
as starter | 161.0 | 152 | 14 | 42 | 115 | 3.41 | as reliever | 67.0 | 84 | 5 | 31 | 52 | 4.30 |
It's enough to make you wonder just why this change to the rotation has been so long coming. It's long been obvious that a Rich Hill throwing just two pitches is not a major league starter. The disappearance of both his cutter and changeup at the major league level do lead one to wonder just how good a third pitch he really has. It doesn't need to be a great pitch, just good enough that he's able to throw it when and where he wants in order to keep the hitters guessing and off balance. That in turn will improve the effectiveness of his fastball, which isn't anything special, and his curveball, which is very special, will do the rest, provided he can throw it for called strikes.
The trouble is that Hill has yet to prove that he can consistently get that curveball across the plate, and developing and improving pitches takes time, time that the 25 year old Rich Hill doesn't really have in abundance. If he can't make the necessary adjustments, he's doomed to life as a lefty specialist. Jim Hendry's behaviour at the deadline suggests he obviously believes in Hill's ability to adjust, and his upside if he can is pretty considerable. But then again Hendry seemingly also thought that Rich Hill was the best bet to step into the rotation when Kerry Wood went down in Cincinnati, and that right now looks like a poor judgement.
Whatever, the Cubs now find Glendon Rusch back in the rotation, and Todd Wellemeyer once again makes the transition from Iowa starter to Chicago reliever. John Koronka's stay was thankfully a brief and irrelevant one. And Jermaine Van Buren meanwhile wonders just what on earth a guy has to do. Perhaps his overdue chance will come when the dominating relief ace Kerry Wood goes for his overdue surgery.
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