Rich Hill named NL Pitcher of the Month
Listen to this articleLOS ANGELES — It was announced early Wednesday Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed starting pitcher Rich Hill was been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for July.
In his five July starts Hill registered a 4-0 record with a 1.45 ERA and a 40:5 strikeout-to walk ratio. This is Hill’s second career monthly award; he last won the award with the Oakland Athletics in May 2016 as the AL Pitcher of the Month.
In July Hill allowed just 19 hits and two home runs in 31.0 innings of work. He is the second Dodgers pitcher to earn the monthly honor this season. Alex Wood earned the honor for May. Among qualified NL starters, Hill finished the period tied for first in wins, second in strikeouts and third in ERA.
On July 1st Hill thew 7.0 scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres, with a season-best 11 strikeouts, allowing just four hits and one walk on only 92 pitches. The impressive start was his first scoreless outing on the season after logging five such starts last year between Oakland and Los Angeles. On July 6th at Dodger Stadium Hill logged nine strikeouts without a walk over 7.0 innings.
Hill is a 13-year-veteran from the University of Michigan. Over the course of his award-winning month, Hill did not allow more than two runs in any start and reached the 5.0-inning mark in each game. Since June 21st Rich has compiled a 6-1 record with a 1.88 ERA and 55 strikeouts over 43.0 innings. He held opponents to a .175 batting average with just 27 hits. Hill is a big reason the Dodgers have the lowest team ERA (3.08) in the Majors.
In Anaheim: starting pitcher Aaron Nola (3-1, 1.32 ERA, 34.0 IP, 43 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies (who are playing the Angels in a three-game series) also had a strong month. In seven starts between June 22nd and July 26th, he recorded at least seven strikeouts in each start, becoming the first Phillies pitcher to do so since Curt Schilling in 1998 (March 31st-May 7th). He pitched at least 6.0 innings in each start, limiting the opposition to two runs (or less) in each outing.
Nola was the seventh overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft
Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included Hill’s Dodger teammate and three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw (3-0, 0.72 ERA, 1 CG, 33 SO); 2017 All-Star Zack Greinke (4-0, 2.12 ERA, 34.0 IP, 33 SO) of the Diamondbacks; Lance Lynn (3-1, 1.47 ERA, 36.2 IP, 24 SO) and Michael Wacha (4-1, 1.93 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SHO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Brent Suter (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 30.0 IP, 25 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; Gio Gonzalez (2-3, 2.14 ERA, 42.0 IP, 37 SO) of the Washington Nationals; and Jhoulys Chacin (4-0, 2.51 ERA, 28.2 IP, 25 SO) of the Padres.
In recognition of his Pitcher of the Month Award, Rich Hill will each receive a specially designed and engraved trophy for his accomplishments.
Top photo is a screenshot from YouTube
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