Rich Hill claimed a piece of history on Tuesday night when he started for the Kansas City Royals against the Chicago Cubs (GameTracker). Hill, the oldest active player in the league at age 45, thereby tied Edwin Jackson’s major-league record by suiting up for his 14th different team. Coincidentally, the Cubs were his first team.
Hill delivered five innings on 90 pitches, surrendering three runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks. He punched out one of the 23 batters he faced. Statcast had his average fastball check in at 89 mph. Four of his eight swinging strikes came against his signature curveball.
|
RHP Edwin Jackson |
2003-2019 |
14 |
|
LHP Rich Hill |
2005-active |
14 |
|
RHP Roosevelt Davis |
1924-1945 |
13 |
|
RHP Octavio Dotel |
1999-2013 |
13 |
Hill, who only joined the Royals on a minor-league contract in May, has now made at least one big-league appearance in every season since 2005. Over that span, he’s pitched for the Royals and the Cubs, as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, the present-day Cleveland Guardians, 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.
The Royals represent Hill’s seventh team since he turned 40 — that’s the most of any player in American or National League history, according to CBS Sports’ research department.
In addition to all those team-related fun facts, Hill also became the oldest pitcher to start a MLB contest since May 27, 2012, when Jamie Moyer received the nod from the Colorado Rockies as a 49-year-old.
Rich Hill returns to majors for record 14th team, will be oldest active MLB player when he makes Royals debut
Mike Axisa
Hill entered Tuesday having amassed career marks that include a 4.01 ERA (107 ERA+) and a 2.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions had been worth an estimated 17.1 Wins Above Replacement, per the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.
Add Comment