Fastball

Kansas City Royals Set to Trot Out MLB's Oldest Pitcher in Over a Decade

By calling up Rich Hill for Tuesday's showdown with the Chicago Cubs, the Kansas City Royals put the 45-year-old left-hander in position to make history.
Sam Connon|
San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Rich Hill (41) looks on during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Petco Park.
San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Rich Hill (41) looks on during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Petco Park. | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

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Kansas City Royals

There are three absolutes in MLB, apparently.

Death, taxes and Rich Hill.

The veteran left-handed pitcher, who made his major league debut all the way back in 2005, got called up by the Kansas City Royals on Monday. He will start Tuesday's game against one of his many former teams, the Chicago Cubs, after spending over two months in Kansas City's farm system on a minor league contract.

Beyond the Royals being the 14th big league team that Hill will have pitched for, tying an all-time MLB record, the southpaw would have made history no matter what team he pitched for.

Hill, 45, is set to become the oldest pitcher to appear in an MLB game since Jamie Moyer took the mound for the Colorado Rockies in 2012. Moyer was 49 years old that season, so Hill would have to pitch in 2030 in order to surpass him in that regard.

Still, Hill joins Moyer, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Tim Wakefield and Bartolo Colon as the only 45-year-old pitchers to start a game in the 21st century. He will also pass Gaylord Perry as the oldest player ever to appear in an MLB game for the Royals.

Hill last saw big league action with the Boston Red Sox in 2024, going 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA, 1.091 WHIP, 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.0 WAR in four appearances. He also had stints with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres over the past two decades.

For his career, Hill is 90-74 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.259 WHIP, 1,421 strikeouts and a 17.1 WAR.

First pitch from Wrigley Field is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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