Hill's Rehab Outing Is 'Encouraging'

A day after successfully making his first rehab outing at Class A Potomac, Washington Nationals starter Shawn Hill was feeling good. Hill said yesterday that he hoped that he would need only one more start in the minors before returning to his spot in the rotation.

Nationals Manager Manny Acta, however, said that Hill will probably make two more rehab appearances. He is scheduled to pitch for Potomac again on Saturday.

"We want to stretch him out to at least five innings, 80 pitches," Acta said.

Hill, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 14 with a left shoulder strain, allowed two hits in three innings during his first rehab start on Monday. He did not walk a batter and recorded two strikeouts.

"The off-speed stuff still needs a little bit of work in terms of getting a feel on it, but I was throwing strikes and the velocity's fine," Hill said. "I feel reasonably well today, so all in all it's pretty good."

"It was an encouraging outing," Acta said. "I was there to see it and his velocity was there. He threw almost every pitch in the 91 miles per hour range. He threw some good sliders and he feels good today."

Lannan Starting

John Lannan will start for the Nationals today, and the 22-year-old rookie hopes that things go a bit smoother than they did last Wednesday. He earned the dubious distinction of being ejected during his big league debut after he hit the Phillies' Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in back-to-back at-bats.

"I'm kind of looking forward to having people talk about something else, like how well I did," Lannan said.

The Phillies tagged the rookie for five runs (four earned) on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

"The main thing tomorrow is not letting the adrenaline get to me, to stay calm and concentrate on throwing strikes," Lannan said.

So what else did he learn?

Catcher Brian Schneider, who sits next to Lannan in the locker room, answered, "Not to hit two people in a row."