Hill Eases Concerns in Final Spring Outing

The last big question the Cubs needed an answer to this Spring..."Can Rich Hill still throw strikes?" was answered yesterday as Hill threw five innings while striking out six and walking only one hitter. This was, by far, Hill's best outing of the Spring and lets the Cubs, and its fans, breathe a sigh of relief as Opening Day looms closer.

After working earlier this Spring to become quicker to home plate from the stretch position, Hill went back and simplified his delivery and seems to have gotten back to normal. It was annoying last season to see opposing base runners have such an easy time stealing off of Hill but I'd prefer him letting those guys get a good jump to second base instead of just walking them. Hill's value comes from his ability to throw strikes, which allows him to mix up his pitches so his control of the strike zone should precede any other concerns in his game.

Kevin Hart came into the game after Hill and continued his downward trend by giving up two runs in less than two innings before Sean Marshall came on and gave up a game tying double. Luckily, the Cubs were able to overcome those obstacles as the newest Cub, Reed Johnson, had a nice day with two hits and two runs and Derrek Lee hit his second homer of the Spring. Michael Wuertz threw another scoreless inning before Carmen Pignatiello closed out the game even though he gave up his first run of the Spring. Quietly the Cubs have creeped back near the .500 mark on the Spring as the victory moved them to 13-14 overall.

The Cubs roster is pretty much set at this point and these last few days will have the Cubs throwing out their daily lineup for 6 or 7 innings in the hopes that everyone can get comfortable with where they are in the field and the batting order.

Jack Cobra covers the Cubs, Bulls and sports in general on his blog, Cobra Brigade. He also writes for Yay Sports on Fridays.
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