BOSTON — In many ways, Rich Hill’s circuitous, yet unrelenting career path has mirrored the season for the Boston Red Sox.
It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t looked pretty at times, but it’s still going. In that sense, he’s a perfect fit for a down-but-not-yet-out Red Sox club.
On the day Hill joined the Red Sox, they pulled out a much-needed 6-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 44-year-old Hill — now the oldest player in the major leagues — arrived at Fenway Park on Tuesday, a short drive from his home in the Boston suburb of Milton, Mass., to help salvage the Red Sox’s season.
The oldest MLB pitcher to throw a pitch each year:
2020 – Rich Hill
2021 – Rich Hill
2022 – Rich Hill
2023 – Rich Hill
2024 – Rich Hill (soon) pic.twitter.com/fZ8lRUFcJ2— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 27, 2024
Hill signed a minor-league deal last week, but as post-deadline pitching injuries have piled up in Boston, the Red Sox have turned to Hill to stem the bleeding. The club placed right-hander Lucas Sims on the injured list Tuesday with a right lat strain while right-hander Luis García landed on the IL with right elbow inflammation. With lefty James Paxton already on the 60-day IL after tearing a calf muscle, all three major-league pitchers the Red Sox added at the trade deadline are now sidelined.
For now, the Red Sox have slotted Hill into the bullpen, but have yet to define his role.
“He’s willing to do anything,” manager Alex Cora said. “We know he can get lefties out. We’ll see where we’re at. He looks great, physically, he’s always taken care of that part. He’s excited to be back and we’ll use him the right way.”
Hill, in the twilight of his career, will be pitching in his 20th big-league season once he toes the rubber for the Red Sox. He’ll become the only current player to appear in at least one game in each of the last 20 seasons (starting in 2005).
Hill decided to take most of the 2024 season away from baseball in order to coach his 12-year-old son Bryce’s Little League team. But throughout the summer, the veteran pitcher kept in top shape with the idea he could help some team in the second half if there was interest. Hill worked out at Champion Physical Therapy Performance in Waltham throughout the summer and in early August he took a trip to the Cape Cod Baseball League to face hitters in Falmouth to see how his pitches played while using their Trackman system. A few weeks ago, Hill threw a 100-pitch bullpen for major-league scouts and drew interest from several teams, including the Red Sox. He opted to sign with Boston, in part to stay close to home.
“Just very fortunate having a major-league team in your own backyard, having a team that I’ve had a long history with,” Hill said. “At the end of the day, yeah, it had a huge factor in it, but it also had a bigger factor in that there’s an opportunity to get into the postseason.”
After signing a minor-league deal with the Red Sox, Hill pitched two innings for Triple-A Worcester on Friday. With the Red Sox pitching staff reeling, he was deemed ready.
“I think the way the ball is coming out of my hand, I know it was a couple of innings in Worcester, but I think the way that the hitters were reacting, and the way the ball is breaking, the life on the fastball, and how the execution was, I think it was all there,” Hill said. “Everything was checking a lot of boxes. It just reinforced that the ball is coming out of my hand the way that I wanted it to.”
Last season, Hill made 27 starts between Pittsburgh and San Diego, finishing with a 5.41 ERA over 146 1/3 innings. Before his trade to San Diego at the deadline, he’d posted a 4.76 ERA in 22 starts for the Pirates. In 2022, Hill’s most recent stint with the Red Sox, he made 26 starts and had a 4.27 ERA.
Drafted in the 2002 first round by the Chicago Cubs, Hill has played for 13 big-league clubs. This current stint with the Red Sox will mark his eighth overall contract with the club, but fourth time on the major-league roster. His other two big-league stints in Boston came from 2010-12 and again in 2015.
Over his 20 seasons, Hill has resurrected his career on numerous occasions, recovering from injuries to returning from indy ball to overcoming inconsistency. And while the Red Sox have several journeymen on their roster, along with veterans like Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen, Hill adds more than just another pitcher on the roster.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t love the game,” he said. “And I also wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think that I had the ability to continue to go out there and compete and not only compete, but also contribute in a thoughtful way to a major-league clubhouse.”
Hill is in the bullpen for now but could fill any role from opener to short or long relief.
“He was very diligent the last few months about his craft, he’s always done it, so no doubt about it that physically he’s going to be OK,” Cora said.
Meanwhile, losing Sims and García with Paxton already on the 60-day IL, highlighted a lost trade deadline season for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. While all three were acquired with the intention of giving the club pitching depth, it clearly wasn’t enough.
Cora reflected on how optimistic he felt with the additions at the deadline compared to where the club is now in a stretch of 27 games in 27 days. With Sims and García out, the club recalled Greg Weissert and Josh Winckowski from Triple-A Worcester. Brad Keller was designated for assignment to make room for Hill.
“For every injury, it opens the window or the door for somebody to come here and contribute. That’s how I see it,” Cora said.
The Red Sox have backed themselves into a corner with tough losses and sloppy play of late, but like so many times this season, they turned a corner on Tuesday. Cora had his club report to the ballpark a few hours later than usual on Tuesday to give them a breather. He suggested he might keep the same schedule for Wednesday after a hard fought win on Tuesday.
“We’re in a stretch, a tough one, as far as like games and innings and traveling so we joke around (about the schedule), but it’s more about taking care of them,” Cora said. “There’s nothing wrong spending time with their families and having lunch somewhere instead of showing up at 1 pm, and be here the whole day. We’re late in August they know what they have to do for their routines and I think it’s a good change of pace.
“Detach yourself from the game a little bit you come here and you’re ready to go.”
(Photo of Hill (center) walking in from the bullpen: Charles Krupa / Associated Press)
