Red Sox Promote Former Dodgers Pitcher to Majors at 44

Former Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Rich Hill has quickly returned to the Boston Red Sox after signing a minor league contract on August 16.

His contract was selected on Tuesday, and he made his first appearance on the mound in over 10 months for Triple-A Worcester on Friday, pitching two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, one walk, and one hit batter.

Hill's minor league outing was a key step toward rejoining the Red Sox as they push for an American League playoff spot.

Hill expressed confidence in his performance after the game.

"I felt great. The ball came out of my hand the way that I wanted it to," Hill told Rob Bradford of Audacy Sports on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. "You're always working to continuously work. That's part of the process and that's the one thing that (I've talked about) is the main focus for really anything that you wanna achieve; it's just putting in the time and the effort, and that's something that you have to do. I enjoy that part of it. I enjoy the work. I enjoy the day in and day out of the task at hand."

Hill has played for 13 Major League teams, the second most in history behind Edwin Jackson’s 14 teams. With his first appearance in 2024, Hill will become the only player to have played in each of the last 20 seasons (2005-24). He will also join Tim Wakefield as the only pitcher to have played for the Red Sox at age 44 or older; Wakefield’s final MLB appearance was on Sept. 25, 2011, at age 45.

“This is a special place,” Hill said about Boston in a phone interview with MLB.com on Aug. 18. “Boston’s one of the best places to play in the league, if not the best, just because of the ballpark. But it’s really what the fans bring to the game because you get that immediate feedback. When you get to play at the highest level, that’s what you want. You want to get that feedback.”

Over his 19-season career, Hill has a record of 90-73 with a 4.01 ERA across 382 appearances, including 248 starts.

His career includes stints with the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Red Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Diego Padres. He has also made 13 postseason appearances with a 1-2 record and a 3.06 ERA.

With the Dodgers from 2016-19, Hill made 68 starts and went 30-16 with a 3.36 ERA. He made an additional 12 postseason appearances (11 starts), going 1-2 with a 3.06 ERA.