Position: RP B/T: R/L
Age: 34 (2/10/1990)
2024 Traditional Stats: 4-0, 3.36 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 31 SO, 19 BB, 67 IP, 62 G,
2024 Advanced Stats: o.5 bWAR, 0.5 fWAR, 123 ERA+, 10.7 SO%, 6.5 BB%, 3.44 xERA, 3.57 FIP, 4.02 xFIP
The side-armer went from being released by the worst team in baseball in June to pitching in the World Series in October.
Hill had a few meltdowns with the Chicago White Sox in the first half of the year, including a four-appearance stretch where he gave up nine runs on 16 hits in three innings of work. Still, when Chicago released him on June 18 with a 5.87 ERA covering 23 innings, the Yankees scooped him up two days later. (Lots of job security for bullpen lefties.)
After a so-so June and July with the Yanks, he had a great finish. He gave up four earned runs in 27 innings (1.33 ERA) in August and September to help hold down the Yankees’ inconsistent bullpen.
He was good in the postseason, too, tossing 8 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He was so good that many baseball fans thought manager Aaron Boone erred when he chose to bring in Nestor Cortes instead of Hill in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the World Series. Hill could only watch from the bullpen as Cortes served up the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history to Freddie Freeman.
The turnaround Hill made after he joined the Yankees is nothing compared to what he dealt with at the start of his professional career.
He was drafted in the 32nd round by the Royals in 2014 and during a routine physical at his first spring training doctors found issues with his bloodwork. After a colonoscopy, Hill, then age 25, found out he had a tumor and Stage 3 colon cancer. His father had died of colon cancer. He had surgery to remove half his colon and lost 70 pounds going through eight months of chemotherapy. He missed the 2015 season.
But he persevered, rose through the Kansas City farm system and made his MLB debut with the Royals in 2018. He spent two years in KC (4.11 ERA, 81 strikeouts, 85 1/3 innings) before he was traded to the Padres. In four years in San Diego, Hill was 13-10 with a 4.18 ERA in 204 relief appearances (170 innings). A free agent last winter, he was signed by the White Sox.
Hill signed a one-year, $1.8 million pact to pitch for Chicago. He has made about $6 million in career earnings. Given his age and track record, paying him market value won’t preclude other signings.
I like the idea of a left-handed side-armer to give opponents a look they are unfamiliar with, especially if he can be brought in to late-inning clutch situations to face left-handed hitters like Bryce Harper or Matt Olson. But like Boone in the World Series, I don’t trust Hill. Even during his good stretch with the Yankees, he had 18 strikeouts in 44 innings. Primarily a sinker ball pitcher, he is not overpowering, with a fastball that averaged just under 91 mph this season, per FanGraphs. I would pass.
The post Free Agent Profile: Tim Hill, RP appeared first on Metsmerized Online.
