Kyle McClellan pitched three scoreless innings Sunday in his first start of the spring. He and Rich Hill are competing for the fifth starter's spot in the Cardinals rotation.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
JUPITER, Fla. – If manager Tony La Russa was going to pick a fifth starter based on Sunday’s stats, Kyle McClellan would be out to a slim early lead.
McClellan started and pitched three scoreless innings. Left-hander Rich Hill followed and gave up one run in two innings.
Audio clips
Cardinals 7, Marlins 4
But the competition appears far from over. Both McClellan and Hill looked impressive against the Marlins on Sunday, knowing that a spot in the starting rotation was on the line.
“They both know that there is a spot open,” La Russa said. “You’re not just pitching for show. They are trying to be the guy.
“You watch McClellan and you watch Hill and it proves a point that it may be uncomfortable, but it’s better for the pitcher or the player to feel pressure. Because that’s the reality when you start playing games for real, you’re under pressure to pitch…both those guys, you could tell they were after it. They were impressive. They both threw the ball really well.”
McClellan fired the competition’s first bullet, striking out four and allowing only a first inning single to Hanley Ramirez. Two of his strikeouts came via the looking variety as he needed just 39 pitches to finish three innings.
“I am pretty hungry this spring,” McClellan said. “I’m excited for the opportunity. I feel like I’m in my first camp, trying to prove to guys that I can do it.
“I’m happy with it. I worked hard this offseason to get here and I felt like it showed, some of the hard work, today, but it’s still early in camp. There’s still a lot more pitches to throw and innings to throw. I just need to stay on track and keep building on each one.”
Both McClellan and Hill found themselves in rare situations. McClellan started for the first time since one spring start last year while Hill pitched out of the bullpen where he has just eight appearances in 78 regular season games.
Rich Hill gave up seven runs and nine walks in 10 innings with the Cardinals before being reassigned to Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday.
Hill showed improved command from previous live batting practice sessions, striking out his first hitter looking to start the fourth inning. He retired his first four hitters before Brett Carroll lifted a solo home run to right with a little help from a strong gusty wind. The lefty allowed another hit before getting out of the inning without further damage.
“When you get out there in the arena and you go to perform, you turn it on,” Hill said. “You crank it up.
“Everything went really well. I felt good. It’s been a couple years getting to that point. It’s been a lot of work. It’s one outing, we’ll go from there…I put a lot of stock in guys fouling the ball off, making bad contact, breaking a guy's bat on a curveball. Those are things that happened today for me. It’s a good indication that things are sharp, things are where they need to be.”
Hill, who is coming off shoulder surgery and hasn’t had a healthy season since 2007, refuses to let the injuries creep into his mind.
He doesn’t have to – he’s healthy.
“You can’t go out there and think like that, absolutely not,” Hill said. “If you are going out there and thinking like that, you are going to be tentative and not be aggressive. Anybody in this room will tell you that once you go out there tentative, and I’ve done it before, I’ve gone out there tentative when my shoulder wasn’t feeling that great, it’s like a shark tank out there - they will eat you alive.”
McClellan has 134 appearances the past two seasons, all in relief, but hopes a productive spring will land him a spot in the starting rotation. The St. Louis native showed no signs of fatigue during his three-inning stint.
“I think the sitting down and getting up again and warming up out there again and going through that, I felt like when I sat down and went back out, I think picked up right where I left out,” McClellan said. “So for me, that’s a big thing, especially doing this since I haven’t done that a lot the past few years.
“I felt just as strong in the last inning as I did in the first.”
The competition will continue Friday when the Boston Red Sox visit Roger Dean Stadium. The two may swap roles with Hill getting the start, but La Russa wasn’t ready to commit to that after the game.
Contact Globe-Democrat.com sports writer B.J. Rains at bjrains@globe-democrat.com. You can also follow him on twitter at twitter.com/bjrains.
Comments
baileychick0035 (anonymous) says...
It's fun to watch them compete for the spot. It will be interesting to see how they do against the Red Sox. I am pumped to see some of the games next week.
March 7, 2010 at 8:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )