Dodgers 'baffled' by Rich Hill's recurring blister problem

LOS ANGELES >> Whatever old school remedy or homeopathic medicine you’re thinking of, the Dodgers have heard of it and Rich Hill has probably already tried it.

“We’re getting a lot of things in our inbox, a lot of suggestions,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said with a smile Monday. “The training staff is on it. … They’re trying everything.”

None of those treatments prevented a recurrence of Hill’s blister problem Sunday or could keep the Dodgers from putting him on the disabled list for the second time in the season’s first month. The Dodgers have no clear idea what to do for Hill or when he will pitch for them again.

“I think the first thing is obviously we put him on the disabled list and try to figure out how to reset. Ten days wasn’t enough,” Roberts said. “I can’t give you a day for his return. As we move forward, we’ll see. It’s just too much pressure on the bullpen, the starting staff to not really know what you’re going to get (when Hill starts).”

Roberts said the fact that Hill had no signs of a blister at any point during spring training has left the Dodgers “baffled” at what caused it to flare up as soon as the season started. That makes it difficult to build a treatment plan around simply shutting Hill down for a certain length of time, Roberts said. Hill played catch Monday afternoon with a bandage on his middle finger and plans to throw again Tuesday without the bandage in order to keep his shoulder and arm strength built up.

“Put it this way – he shut down all winter and we didn’t see this blister until his first start,” Roberts said. “You can argue that resting it isn’t the solution because he had as much rest as he could and there wasn’t a sign of this until he made his first start.

“Everything’s on the table.”

That includes turning Hill (who signed a three-year, $48 million contract over the winter) into a very well-paid member of the Dodgers’ bullpen, at least temporarily. Hill has volunteered to make that move if the Dodgers determine throwing fewer pitches per outing would prevent the blister from developing.

“I think No. 1, we want to give him ample opportunity to re-set it and to heal it,” Roberts said. “Rich, to his credit, is open to anything to help us. If it’s to potentially put him in the ’pen to pitch for a couple innings to get him back out there … that might potentially keep that situation at bay. To his credit, he’s open to it. But number one I think we’re going to give him some time away and evaluate after that.”

Hill was shut down for a month when he ripped open the tip of his finger last July while trying to pitch through a blister issue with Oakland. This year’s blister has not reached that point, but he compares the situation to driving with a nail in a tire – you can do it for awhile but it’s not a good idea and will probably end badly.

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The Dodgers aren’t really sure what to do now to avoid a blowout later. But suggestions like changing his curveball grip to create less friction on his middle finger or throwing his curveball less often do not seem like good ideas to Roberts.

“It’s such a weapon for him with his grip and his feel for the baseball,” Roberts said. “The thing is all throughout spring training, even the Anaheim exhibition game there was no problem and the curveball usage was 50 percent like it always is. So he did nothing before that first start of the season and it showed its ugly face again. I don’t see him changing his pitch sequence, his grip.

“I do see a rehab in Rich’s future to kind of get through it. To give him confidence, to give us confidence. Outside of that, we’ve just got to take it a few days at a time and see what happens.”

Left-hander Alex Wood will take Hill’s spot in the rotation for now and start Friday in Arizona. Right-hander Kenta Maeda will move back a day and start on Saturday.

That would put left-hander Julio Urias and Wood on the same schedule if the Dodgers are ready to take the wraps off Urias. The 20-year-old has made two starts for the OKC Dodgers, going 3-2/3 innings then 4-2/3 innings and throwing 79 and 73 pitches respectively. He is scheduled to make his third start Friday.

Also

Rob Segedin got the call from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Hill’s spot on the roster and started at first base against Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray. It was the third time in the past 10 games Roberts has sat Adrian Gonzalez against a left-handed starter. ...

Logan Forsythe returned to the starting lineup Monday after missing one game with discomfort in his hamstring. ...

Outfielder Franklin Gutierrez went through a pregame workout Monday and Roberts said he will move to Camelback Ranch this week to face live pitching. Gutierrez is on the 10-day DL with a hamstring injury but is eligible to be activated Friday when the Dodgers open a series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.