Acquired at the deadline in hopes that he'd help their postseason push, Padres starter Rich Hill has not had his best stuff since arriving in San Diego.
Dropping yet another game in his most recent start, the southpaw summed up his return to Southern California in blunt fashion.
“Nothing has gone well here,” Hill said. “It’s been terrible, and nobody is more disappointed than me. Coming here and wanting to be a contributing factor and not being able to even contribute in any manner whatsoever has been pretty pathetic actually. It’s just been bad pitches and bad pitching."
Such a self-critical assessment on one's own performance definitely isn't the norm from any player, but hearing such a review of his recent play shows a load of accountability from Hill.
GM AJ Preller surprisingly bought players at the deadline and brought Hill along for the ride as part of the equation to return to the postseason.
“So you know, look, it sucks to sit here in this position and go out there and throw the ball that way," Hill said. "But that’s the facts and the way that I’ve been throwing the ball right now. It has been pathetic, it has been terrible, whatever you want to coin it. I’ve got to figure out a way to get out of this, and that’s really where I’m at right now.”
The move simply hasn't panned out as Hill's only had one quality start out of the six he's pitched for the Friars, seeing his ERA climb to 5.60 after he arrived with a 4.76 mark from his work in Pittsburgh.
As frustrating as it is for fans at Petco to see Hill and the rest of the team struggle, it's much more likely that the players and organization themselves feel even worse about their 2023 year.
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