Rich Hill is still cruising along at 45 years young, biding his time in the minor leagues with the Royals while waiting for a big league opportunity. The southpaw recently passed on a June 15 opt-out date in his minor league arrangement with Kansas City, Robert Murray of FanSided reports, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s sticking with the Royals indefinitely. Murray adds that the Royals wouldn’t stand in Hill’s way if another team presented him a big league offer. Whether it’s expressly written in Hill’s contract or there’s merely a handshake agreement, it seems Hill effectively has a rolling upward mobility clause — similar to the situations of Craig Kimbrel and James McCann in Atlanta.
Hill is the oldest player in affiliated ball, but you wouldn’t know it based on his results. He’s pitched 24 minor league innings and limited opponents to a 3.38 ERA despite sitting just 88.9 mph on his fastball. He’s punched out 33.7% of his opponents against a 7.4% walk rate.
Hill started ramping back up with the Royals’ Complex league affiliate — mentoring many young teammates in his short time there — but has now made three starts in Triple-A and continued looking sharp: 16 innings, 2.81 ERA, 29.7% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate. He’s pitched five, six and five innings in his three starts with Omaha, running his pitch count up to 94 in his most recent outing.
It’s been a few years since Hill has enjoyed sustained big league success. He logged a respectable 4.27 ERA in 124 1/3 innings for the 2022 Red Sox and had a nice first half with the 2023 Pirates before fading badly after a trade to San Diego. That second-half slide contributed to a 2024 plan that saw Hill wait until the final third of the season to sign, hoping to stay fresh for a contender down the stretch. It didn’t really work out as hoped; Hill pitched just 3 2/3 innings in the majors last year (all with the Red Sox).
This year’s timing seems like it could have the potential for better results. Hill signed with the Royals in mid-May and is now fully built up at a time when there are several clubs around the league in need of pitching but very few arms available on the trade market. The Royals themselves could be one such team, with Cole Ragans gathering multiple opinions due to a rotator cuff injury that seems sure to sideline him for a significant period. Righty Alec Marsh is also on the 60-day IL for Kansas City.
Of course, at any point in the season, there are myriad teams looking for options while arms are in short supply. Several of Hill’s former clubs — Twins, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, Padres — have notable starting pitchers on the injured list at present. All are quite familiar with Hill as a pitcher, teammate and person. The Astros, Rangers and Blue Jays have each incurred recent injuries in their starting rotations as well.
Hill isn’t likely to dial it back to his 2015-20 form (2.92 ERA in 505 innings), but he could potentially hold down a fourth or fifth starter’s gig for a team in need while their injured arms mend and/or until the trade market picks up in earnest. At the moment, it seems like he’s all but freely available to a club that is willing to give him a look in what would be his 21st season with at least some action at the major league level.