Rich Hill's Shoulder

Sorry for the break in posting. I was running a distance relay around Lake Tahoe. My team did very well. Sadly, the place we stayed didn't have WiFi and I was more out of touch than I expected. Normally I wouldn't be upset, but what a week to miss!

I missed Matt Wieters' debut. Jason Berken and Brad Bergesen threw gems. David Hernandez was solid in his first start. Luke Scott and Nolan Reimold hit home runs in bunches. I stepped off the airplane last night just in time to fire up the laptop and watch Rich Hill pitch seven shutout innings against the Mariners. Who would have predicted a 1-0 score in an Orioles game?

I've been meaning to type a bit about Hill's mechanics since seeing Bob Feller in the broadcast booth a week or two ago. MASN flashed a picture of Feller in his prime with his back shoulder dipped low, just like Rich Hill. I think this is the picture they showed.



That looks posed, so here is another one that seems to show his natural motion. The shoulder dip isn't as exaggerated since Feller is farther into his windup, but it is definitely there.



Here is one of Rich Hill, also dropping the back shoulder. Its a couple years old, but he is doing the same thing now.



I'm not a pitching coach and normally don't dabble in baseball mechanics. In this case though, it seems to be common sense that any mechanical quirk can be part of an effective delivery if it is integrated into the pitching motion. Feller had a Hall of Fame career with an odd motion. I don't see why Hill takes so much criticism for his similar idiosyncrasy. I think it is one of those situations where "different" mechanics are fine when you are winning but verboten when losing. Keep dealing Rich, nobody will complain anymore.

While out of touch, I missed sending happy birthday wishes to Tippy Martinez, Eric Davis, and John Miller. That's John Miller the '60s pitcher, not Jon Miller the announcer. Happy birthday guys.