Rich Hill, traded to his 13th team yesterday at 43 years young, has no intention of making the Padres the final stop in his baseball career. The left-hander tells MLB.com’s Justice de los Santos that he has “all intentions of playing” in what would be his 20th Major League season in 2024 (Twitter link).
Hill’s age-35 comeback season with the Red Sox was remarkable on its own — way back in 2015. At that point, the suggestion that Hill would still be pitching in 2023 with his sights set on continuing into 2024 would’ve sounded like utter lunacy. He’d pitched in just 153 innings in the seven seasons from 2008-14, compiling a 5.41 ERA and regularly being bounced off rosters and passed through waivers. His 1.55 ERA in four late-season starts with Boston in 2015 was a fun story, but the manner in which the next decade unfolded has been completely unforeseeable.
That 29-inning sample with the Red Sox prompted the A’s to sign Hill for a year and $6MM, and he went on to dominate with Oakland to the point that the Dodgers pounced to acquire him and Josh Reddick for a trio of then-prospects: Frankie Montas, Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes. Hill re-signed in Los Angeles on three-year, $48MM deal that seemed surreal at the time, given where he’d been just a couple years prior.
He’s steadily slowed from an upper-tier starting pitcher to a cagey innings eater in the years since, pitching to a 3.00 ERA with a 29% strikeout rate from 2016-19 but a 4.15 ERA and 21% strikeout rate in 440 2/3 innings dating back to 2020. That includes a 4.76 ERA, 19.6% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate in 119 frames with the Pirates this year.
Hill will step into the back of the Padres’ rotation and help provide stable innings behind Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. Righty Seth Lugo is quickly approaching his career-high innings count after moving from a relief role to a starting role this year, and while he’s pitched quite well to date, it’s unclear how he’ll fare as his workload moves into uncharted territory. Hill’s steady, if unspectacular innings, could prove important as the Padres hope for a second-half surge that’ll push them back into the playoff picture.
How Hill fares in the season’s final two months will impact his earning power in free agency. It’s hard to imagine anyone inking him to a multi-year deal regardless, given his age, but his performance in San Diego will play a large role in dictating the type of guarantee he can command on another one-year pact.
Yesterday’s trade to the Padres was notable in that they’ll be Hill’s 13th Major League team — tying him for the second-most franchises appeared for by any player. Edwin Jackson holds that oddball record at 14. Hill will have a chance to tie him this offseason and perhaps even surpass him next year, if he’s traded during the 2024 campaign.
Jamie Moyer V2.0
Bill Lee is coming back next. MLB needs the spaceman!
Lee can make his new team his ‘Special’ pancakes too.
dewey – Bill is pitching for the Bananas this year at Age 76!
Lee is a good choice,but I want to see Oil Can Boyd make a return.
He had major elbow surgery going into 2020, in addition to two other arm surgeries earlier in his career. There’s a lengthy track record of injuries outside of his blister period from 2016 to 2018.
Just for context, Hill has gone over 30 starts all of 3 times in his career.
Doesn’t make him more appealing
True that fellas. Let’s burn one.
I hit against Oil can in the the MSBL!
Nice at 50 years young
With none of the durability. Hill debuted in 2005 and still doesn’t have 100 career wins.
dank – He will forever be Blister Boy, that’s what sidelined him the most.
He had a major elbow surgery heading into 2020, on top of two other arm surgeries each in his career.
He’s registered 30+ starts just twice. There’s a lengthy injury history even controlling for his struggles with blisters from 2016 to 2018.
It wasn’t just durability issues early in his career. He pretty much wet the bed as a starter and wasn’t much better as a reliever. In 2015 he joined the Red Sox with arguably the best curveball in the game at the time. He had blister issues because he was constantly applying different grips to get different spin and he still threw hard enough to get blisters. He took an old curveball theory and made it a reality by switching grips. Back before my arm fell off I worked on applying different grips myself and applying uneven pressure on a stitch with my middle finger would always give me a blister if I did it more than a couple of times. It’s an easy way to get a ton of spin though.
Rich Hill > Jamie Moyer
Not sure what gives you that idea but in no world is Rich Hill better than Jamie Moyer. Moyer had 15 seasons with 30+ starts. Like Hill his best seasons were in his late 30s when he pitched well enough to be considered an iffy #2 or a very solid #3. He was never a frontline starter like Hill but Moyer was never bad enough to spend a year revamping his entire pitching approach. Yes, Moyer does own the record for the most home runs given up in a career but if he had been on better teams earlier he would have gotten to 300 wins. I know wins mean Jack all but 300 wins used to be a golden ticket to the Hall. What makes Moyer better than Hill was the fact he managed to pitch for over 4000 innings. Being durable and eating innings is the most important thing for a backend starter
Moyer has a career ERA close to 4.50. Aside from a few seasons, Moyer has been mediocre. Rich Hill has stayed competitive nearly every season he’s pitched.
People mention Moyer for his longevity, not for his overall success. That’s my point. Anyone can get 300 wins if they pitch that long.
Compare the 11 seasons Moyer was with Seattle to any 11 seasons that Hill pitched. Moyer was twice the pitcher that Hill was.
Given up the most homeruns in MLB history and has a 4.47 career FIP and you think he’s a better pitcher? Give me a break.
I’m not saying Hill is a superstar by any means because he has a 4.02 career FIP. Hasn’t pitched as long but the stats indicate he is better in a shorter span aside from longevity.
Let me ask you this: who has had more seasons with an ERA under 4.50? I understand Moyer has pitched far more, but in a shorter span, Hill is better
You’re forgetting the run scoring environment is about a half run lower on average for Rich Hill. Did Hill ever make the All Star team? Did he get any Cy Young votes? Since he’s been a “money” pitcher, has he even qualified for an ERA title?
Ken Hill is better than Rich Hill.
How is the run scoring environment “half a run lower?” I’m not even sure what you mean by that, let alone if it is accurate.
I will agree that I misjudged this a little bit. I won’t retract from saying Hill is better, but I should give Moyer more credit for pitching longer and more healthier. That he should get full credit for.
Hill is very injury prone. He barely makes full seasons, but when he does pitch, he overall has better stats.
So I guess I really shouldn’t have made the comparison in the first place. Two very different scenarios, though I would personally take Hill by sheer talent alone.
If you look at the RA9Avg in the Player Value section on Baseball Reference of both pitchers:
Lifetime for Moyer is 4.86, and with Seattle (34 WAR during his prime), it is 4.89.
Lifetime for Hill is 4.51, and from 2016-2023 when he is getting paid the big bucks, it has dropped to 4.28.
Glad Ryan Weathers is gone. Wonder if Padres go to 6 man rotation once Wacha is back.
I’m the beer league superstar so I’m open to pitching in the MLB next year if they want someone.
As long as you’re a ‘superstar’ then there’s a very good chance AJ Preller will convince Seidler to break the bank for you. Are you a self centered shortstop? You’re pretty much a lock to get 8 figures per year over the next decade if so…
Don’t look back Jamie Moyer, somebody is catching up to you.
Why not? He eats innings, not going to blow anyone away with his stuff, but he’s still generally effective
Til they rip the jersey off your back!
There’s a soccer goalie
who plays for Parma in Italy. He’s 45 years and will finally retire. I know Bartolo leaves him in the dust, but that’s not bad for a GK.
If LOOGYs were still a thing, Rich Hill could probably pitch into his 50s lol.
13 teams only traded twice
If Rich Hill pitches 25 years, maybe, just maybe he’ll get to 100 total wins. This guy defines longevity.
Come on. He’s obviously the second coming of Satchel Paige. If only Hill didn’t tell anyone his age, like Paige, he could pitch into his 60’s.
If they keep paying u. Keep taking the money
Every time he takes the Hill he becomes more Rich
Dude’s a nut. 41 and still going 5 IP.
Mets will sign him for two years @ 43 million/year.
And then trade him and $45m 4 months later for 2 Longshots
Rich Hill will plan to pitch until there is no team in the major leagues willing to pay him to pitch. Good for Rich.
Sad to think I remember watching the AAA All Star game with him pitching.
Why is that sad?
Cause that was almost 20 yeads ago back in 2006. Looking back 20 years like it was yesterday can invoke alot of positive or negative feelings.
It would’ve been pretty cool to see him pitch for all 30 teams but with like 4 stints with the Red Sox 25% of the teams he’s played for is with Boston. It would be cool to see him finish with the Cubs but they need a much longer SP.
Cards need w 5 th starter
If he can average 150 innings a year, he’d need to pitch 18 more years to catch Jamie Moyer in innings pitched
Get that money, he’s this generation’s Moyer. He just doesn’t break down.
Rich Hill is Eddie Harris from the movie Major League.
Maybe even Chet”Rocket” Steadman who later changed his name to Drake Sabitch
Hill served a purpose here in Pittsburgh and played the role of wise, elder statesman to the kids quite well. He did exactly what was asked of him here and got a few wins. To me at least, if you can win 7 games starting for a Pirates team that doesn’t support pitchers with a lot of offense, there’s still a place for him somewhere in mlb if he likes
The staff ace Keller has only 2 more wins than Hill just sayin’
The staff ace Keller has only 2 more wins
than Hill just sayin’
If a team wants to pay you to play ball, keep doing it until they make you quit.
Over Under 100 Wins ?
I think he does it.
For longevity , there’s Ricky and what about Julio Franco.
Franco would play professionally for 33 seasons with 4 minor league seasons, 23 MLB seasons, 6 seasons playing in Asia and Mexico and 1 season playing in independent ball in 2014 at the alleged age of “55”
One of only nine or ten in the 4,000 hit club
Rich Hill has pitched during four different presidential administrations
So he will tie the record for most teams played for.
He should write a book about his career when it’s finally over
Back to Boston for round five!
Dick Mountain!!! All Hail!!