I realize the title of this entry sounds like the name of a bad movie. Just be grateful I didn't call it "The House on Haunted Rich Hill" or "Rich Hill is for Heroes,'' which would just get me in more trouble with all the people who think I don't take my baseball seriously enough.

Rich Hill really is something of a mystery. There are times when he channels Sandy Koufax (which isn't easy to do since Sandy is alive and well) and other times when he couldn't hit the broad side of Sid Fernandez, which put him in the same Orioles category as Daniel Cabrera and Sidney Ponson.

Not that there is any visible similarity among those three pitchers. Hill is a timid sort with a great arm and, apparently, a few of what Glenn Davis liked to call "Mind Monsters." Sidney was a boisterous buffoon who just didn't (and doesn't) have the self-discipline to harness is talent. Cabrera was a highly talented pitcher who was just too tall and ungainly to maintain a consistent delivery.

Former Orioles pitching coach Ray Miller used to look at guys like that and sum them up this way:

"That's the kind of pitcher who gets a pitching coach fired."

Don't think Hill will put Rick Kranitz (with Hill and catcher Chad Moeller above) in any immediate jeopardy, but he clearly has talent and is having trouble holding it together. Eventually, that leads to organizational frustration and reflects badly on the coach who can't figure out a way to tap that potential. At least in this case, the Orioles do not have much invested in Hill, who came over in a conditional deal with the Cubs that won't cost the club much unless he turns into a star.

Hill brew up completely two starts ago. He looked very good for three innings his last time out before giving up four runs in the fourth and exiting the game. He's going to have his hands full in Tiny Citizens Bank Ballpark against the big-swinging Phillies, but it wouldn't surprise me if he jacks up a big performance.

Associated Press photo