Interesting news out of St. Louis today. Former Cubs left-hander Rich Hill just signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals. The 29-year-old Hill was very good for the Cubs in 2007, going 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA, before more or less turning into Rick Ankiel on the mound in 2008. Hill then signed with the Baltimore Orioles before the 2009 season, and went 3-3 with a sexy ERA of 7.80.

Cardinals pitching Dave Duncan of course had to deal with Ankiel in St. Louis, and couldn't get the former phenom to get it back together on the mound. That's because there's really not much you can do for an absolute headcase like Ankiel was, and Hill is. Hill continuously uses "injuries" to blame for his control problems, even after he went on about how healthy he felt following a couple nice starts for the Orioles last year. Then he's nowhere close to the strike zone again, and all of a sudden the "injuries" comeback.

Dave Duncan's an absolutely sensational pitching coach, maybe the best in the business. It seems year after year, he turns a mediocre veteran pitcher into an All-Star candidate. So it's understandable why the Cardinals think Duncan can get Hill back to his 2007 form after all of the less talented arms the pitching coach has gotten the most out of. However, like Ankiel, I don't think there's anything Duncan's going to be able to do to fix Hill's problems, unless Duncan has a doctorate in psychology.


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