Hill was placed on the 15 day DL on March 29th, making today the 15th day.
The O’s are not going to activate Hill, prior to him going on a Minor League rehab assignment for up to 30 days.
The up-to 30-day rehab assignment starts the day Hill makes his first appearance in a Minor League game.

I have come to the conclusion that the delay on his Major League arrival, is not about him being physically ready. I think it is possible the O’s want to work with him a bit longer to refine his control, but most likely the Orioles are not ‘rushing,’ Hill back – because of the argument Trembley used for the optioning of Albers back to the Minors:

“I would say the business side, the option, probably weighed heavily in the decision,” Trembley said. “Andy and I both agreed at the start of the season, we didn’t want to take a chance losing somebody to another club this early in the year.”

The O’s are not yet comfortable with the idea of losing some of the existing arms… so they are hiding Hill on the DL, while the current roster sorts itself out.

MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported yesterday that Hill will join the O’s in Arlington this week, and throw a bullpen session in-front of the Pitching Coach Rick Kranitz.

The Baltimore Sun’s Peter Schmuck was asked by a reader yesterday when Hill can be expected back in the rotation, Mr. Schmuck replied, “It’s really up to him. At best, maybe three weeks.”

Three weeks from yesterday, is Sunday May 3rd.

Frankly, unless there have been additional set-backs that have not been reported; it is hard to believe that Hill was not physically ready to pitch yesterday.

Hill pitched 4 times between March 15th and March 21st. Yes, I understand that a bullpen session does not equate to being game ready… but arm strength is arm strength.

3/21 – 25 pitches

3/19 – 60 pitches

3/17 – 50 pitches

On March 17th, Hill stated – “It went really well. I feel great. On my end, I’m looking for a little more consistency maybe with the breaking ball, but the fastball and everything has been great because it’s been down. Everything is down in the zone.”

Hill remained confident that he would be ready by Opening Day and would not have to begin the season on the disabled list.
“Especially going out there today and throwing,” he said. “I think the only thing is, it’s not so much being able to go out there and throw 100 pitches, because I know that I’m capable of doing that if I needed to do it right now without any problem. But it’s the quality. You get up into that threshold every time you go 60, 70 pitches, and then you get to 100 and that’s where you start to see a decline in quality. You want to keep that quality as high as possible.”

3/16 – 26 pitches

“There is a doubt,” pitching coach Rick Kranitz said. “We’re three weeks away. This particular time, I like to get guys about 25 innings. … You have to be able to log some innings to get out there and know he’s going to be able to perform. The last thing I want to do is put him out there before he is ready to go. … I thought [today] was great. For the first time, he came out and threw the ball very well. It was very good, very encouraging for me.”

Hill has no such reservations about his readiness, saying there is “no doubt” that he’ll be fine for the start of the regular season.”I really feel good right now,” Hill said. “There’s just enough time where I can get the innings in. As good as I feel today, I feel like I can go out and pitch.”

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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