Royals' Recently-Signed 45-Year-Old Dominates Rookie Ball In First Start Of 2025
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Can Rich Hill really help the Kansas City Royals in 2025?
Last week, the Royals signed the 45-year-old Hill, who has already pitched in the big leagues for 13 different teams, to a minor-league contract. It was certainly an intriguing bit of news, but at that age, it was easy to question whether the lefty had anything left in the tank.
When he appeared briefly for the Boston Red Sox in September of last season, Hill was only able to pitch 3 2/3 innings over four outings, allowing two earned runs. If his Royals organizational debut is any indication, he might have more to offer this time around.
On Tuesday, Hill took the mound in the Arizona Complex League against the Cubs' rookie affiliate. And he was positively dominant, tossing four perfect innings while striking out seven of the 12 batters he faced.
According to the Royals' official Player Development account on X(formerly Twitter), every batter Hill faced on Tuesday was born after 2002, the year Hill was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs.
Per Thomas Nestico (@TJStats on X), Hill was sitting at 88 miles per hour with his fastball, employing a three-pitch mix with his curveball and slider. None of those pitches graded out above average on a major league scale according to Stuff+ metrics, but they weren't far off.
One great outing against a group of teenagers certainly doesn't guarantee Hill is ready to return to the big leagues and punch out José Ramirez or Riley Greene. But there should be no doubt that the elder statesman is serious about making an impact with his new team.
And as great as the Royals' pitching staff has been for most of the season, there might be room for a change-of-pace lefty to make an impact out of the bullpen.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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