44-Year-Old Red Sox Pitcher Takes Mound in 20th Consecutive Season

Getty Rich Hill

When Rich Hill was a rookie in 2005, his teammates were Greg Maddux, Nomar Garciaparra, and Jeromy Burnitz. Since then, 13 different teams have won the World Series, four presidents have occupied the Oval Office, and the original iPhone was released.

Hill took the mound on Thursday, August 29 for the 20th consecutive season after the Boston Red Sox signed him as a free agent for an absurd eighth time. He threw 1.1 perfect innings in the Red Sox’ 2-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, striking out the first batter he faced in his age 44 season.

“He’s not here just to hang out. He’s here to contribute,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game per MLB.com’s Ken Powtak. “For people that [think] this is for a guy just to play 20 years straight in the big leagues — no, we believe he can get people out. We’ll use him every way, two innings or open or get lefties out, all of the above. He’s ready to do that.”

Hill was emotional after the game. Speaking to reporters, Powtak says he had to pause as he became choked up.

“It’s pretty special,’’ Hill said of his 20th season. “I think just effort and work. Everybody asks, ‘What’s the secret?’ It’s work. Just keep putting in the days, one drop in the bucket every day.”

Hill comes to a Boston team that’s 3.5 games out of an American League Wild Card spot with 28 remaining. FanGraphs gives them a 19 percent chance of making the postseason.

How the Red Sox Will Use Rich Hill

Including Thursday, Hill has now appeared in 383 career games and made 248 starts. Though he faced only four batters in his first outing, he can help Boston in either a starting or relief role.

“Role-wise, if it happens, he can start, he can open, he can come in in leverage,” Cora told MLB.com’s Ian Browne on August 19. “But first things first, let’s get him back on the mound, back to compete and then we’ll go from there.”

The Red Sox — and any contending team — could certainly use rotation help. They rank 13th in the majors with a 3.96 starters’ ERA, though ace Tanner Houck is the only Boston starter with an ERA lower than 4.12. With midseason acquisition James Paxton on the Injured List, Hill could force himself into a few starts.

Boston is desperate for middle relief help, however, ranking 25th in baseball in bullpen ERA (4.42). The back end seems stable, but Hill can eat innings — something that could come in handy in the postseason when starting pitchers have a much shorter leash. As Cora said, he could open, throwing an inning or two before a starter comes on to take the team to the later innings. Or, he could enter in the fourth or fifth, giving opponents another look the third time through the order.

John Schneider Compares Rich Hill to Tom Brady

It’s understandable why an opposing manager would be as effusive in his praise for Hill as Blue Jays skipper John Schneider. After all, they’re the same age and Schneider’s playing days ended 17 years ago. As Powtak notes, Schneider even caught Hill in the Cape Cod League before Hill broke into the Majors.

But New Englanders take their sports seriously, and a comparison to Tom Brady may go a little too far for the Toronto manager.

“Gotta love him, man,” Schneider said. “I laughed when he came in. … I give him all the credit in the world for still doing it. He’s like a baseball version of Tom Brady right now in New England.”

Sure, Brady also played well into his 40s, and both he and Hill went to the University of Michigan. But he’s also arguably the greatest football player of all-time. While Hill carved out a nice career for himself, he has a career 16.1 bWAR and has never made an All-Star team.

Not that it matters to Hill in the moment. He missed out on playing for two World Series winning teams (the 2013 Red Sox and 2020 Dodgers) by a season each. With a career 3.06 playoff ERA, Hill is hoping to get one more crack at October glory.