Royals sign 45-year-old pitcher Rich Hill to minor league deal

The Royals announced they have signed 45-year-old left-handed pitcher Rich Hill to a minor league deal. He will head to Arizona before being assigned to Triple-A Omaha.

Hill is a 20-year veteran with the Cubs, Orioles, Indians, Angels, Yankees, A’s, Dodgers, Twins, Rays, Mets, Pirates, Padres, and four separate stints with the Red Sox. He has 97 career wins and a 4.01 ERA. He made four relief appearances with Boston last year, giving up just one hit and two runs in 3 2⁄3 innings. He also pitched for Team USA in the Premier12 Tournament last fall. Hill made 27 starts in 2023 with the Pirates and Padres and had a 5.41 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 146 1⁄3 innings.

Hill’s fastball tops out at 88 mph, but he is known for his breaking balls. He had a 54 percent whiff rate on his sweeper last year in a very limited sample size, and he has relied heavily on his curve in the past.

Hill is as seasoned as they come, and if he makes the Majors this year, he would be the oldest player in the game (currently 42-year-old Justin Verlander of the Giants). To give you an idea of how old he is, in his first game, Neifi Perez was his shortstop. In his rookie year he was teammates with Mike Remlinger who was teammates with Bud Black in 1991, who pitched on the 1985 Royals and was recently fired as manager of the Rockies. He is seven years older than Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney. Rich Hill is older than Alex Gordon, Jarrod Dyson, Jeff Francoeur, Greg Holland, Wade Davis, Alcides Escobar, Billy Butler, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Eric Hosmer, Ben Zobrist, Alex Rios, Mark Teahen, Yuniesky Betancourt, Luke Hochevar, Chris Getz, and Mitch Maier.

So he’s old. Can he still pitch? The Royals will find out.