Strikes against him: Hill's control an issue

MESA, Ariz. -- What constitutes a "Cubbie occurrence?"

Oh, a whole lot of things, from players coming up with freak injuries to performing well below expectations.

Manager Lou Piniella didn't call Rich Hill's performance Thursday and his overall spring a "Cubbie occurrence," but he probably could have.

In an 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies, Hill made it through only 1½ innings, as he walked six and gave up only 1 run.

That's strange enough, but if you compare it to Hill's 2007 spring, it's downright mystifying. Hill made it through the entire Cactus League season last year without walking a batter. This year, he has walked 14 in 12¿ innings.

Despite that, Hill's lock on the No. 4 spot in the rotation does not seem to be in jeopardy -- yet.

"He's locked in," Piniella said. "We're not going to mess around with the fourth spot in the rotation. But one thing, he's got to throw strikes."

The whole idea of a "Cubbie occurrence" came up early in the day, when Piniella talked about finalizing the rotation.

"By Monday unless there's an injury, a 'Cubbie occurrence,' I think we'll be in good shape to announce some plans," Piniella said. "I say that jokingly. I think by Monday we'll be in pretty good shape to know the things you all have been asking about and for us to answer our own questions and then to get these people in roles, which is necessary for the last 4-5-6 games of the spring."

Hill walked the first three batters Thursday before getting help on a double play. He couldn't make it out of the second inning, however.

"I'm not concerned at all," he said. "There's zero concern. I'll be pitching. That's the best thing, wherever it might be, I'll be on a mound somewhere with a ball in my hand."

Could that somewhere be at Class AAA Iowa instead of in Chicago, especially since the Cubs have Jon Lieber, Ryan Dempster and Jason Marquis fighting for spots and pitching well behind Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly?

Not likely, at this point. But why is Hill a lock?

"Well, first of all, he's got good major-league stuff," Piniella said. "Second of all, last year, for a young pitcher, I thought he handled himself quite well. He helped us win a division. Really, one of these years, this young man should have a breakout year. We were hoping this would be the year for him.

"You've got to throw strikes, obviously. It's something Larry (pitching coach Rothschild) and Rich and myself and (GM) Jim Hendry will sit down and talk about this weekend sometime."

Piniella said Hill was throwing the ball well and had good velocity. But location clearly has been a problem that Hill acknowledges as well.

"What was I working on?" he asked. "Throwing strikes, that would be No. 1. It is frustrating, obviously. You'd like to go out there and perform and perform to the ability that you know that you can. And when that doesn't happen, you're getting in your own way.

"Ninety percent of the time, that's the issue you have to get over. You look forward. You put it behind you and move on.

"I don't sit there and hit the panic button and (say), 'What's going to happen when the bell goes off?' I'm not concerned one bit about that."