PITTSBURGH — Rich Hill began his big-league career in 2005, three years after the Cubs made him a fourth-round pick out of the University of Michigan. Over 18 seasons with 11 teams, the left-hander has seen trends come and go, what he calls “the ups and downs of pitching.”
The splitter was popular in the early 1990s, followed by the rise of the sinker. In the 2000s, it was all about four-seam fastballs high in the strike zone and curveballs over the top. Everything was new and different — except that it wasn’t, really.
“I’ve seen a lot of stuff in the game,” Hill said with a grin. “We talk about ‘pitch mirroring.’ Nolan Ryan was doing that in the ’60s with the Mets. It’s always been around. It’s just in a different package.”
Last season’s latest fashion among big-league pitchers was to embrace the breaking ball. That makes Hill, who’ll turn 43 in March, a valuable commodity for the Pirates. He throws an elite curve and can pass that knowledge along to their young pitching staff.
Thursday, the Pirates finalized a one-year, $8 million contract with Hill. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Zach Thompson, who was acquired in November 2021 in the Jacob Stallings trade, was designated for assignment.
“Rich has been a consistent performer in tough environments and has built a terrific reputation as a pro,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement. “We wanted to add a left-handed starter to our group this offseason, and we believe he will be a great addition to our rotation.”
We have signed LHP Rich Hill to a one-year contract for the 2023 season. pic.twitter.com/ymv5SO2XO0
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) January 5, 2023
Now that Albert Pujols has retired, Hill is the oldest active player in the game. Even so, he said he drew a lot of interest this offseason on the free-agent market. Why did he choose the Pirates?
“It’s (about) being able to fill a starting pitching role and also the veteran experience that is needed here,” Hill said. “I look forward to that challenge.”
When Hill made his major-league debut, the Cubs clubhouse was full of guys such as Greg Maddux, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano. “There weren’t too many guys who had under 10 years (of experience),” Hill said. “I watched how those guys handled themselves.”
Early in his career, Hill was more of a fastball pitcher. That had changed by 2011, when the curveball accounted for 75 percent of his pitches in a season shortened by Tommy John surgery.
Last season, the curveball and four-seam each accounted for 36 percent of Hill’s pitches. He also throws a cutter, slider and changeup.
Hill’s fastball sits at only 89 mph, but he still generated a 24 percent whiff rate last season. His best pitch, though, is the curve, which has a very good 2,636 rpm spin rate. It produced a .231 batting average against and a .294 weighted on-base average.
“It’s not so much about the break of the curveball as how you are going to use it,” Hill said. “We get caught up in the mystification of velocity and spin, but there’s a lot of other things to pitching. It’s about getting away from the throwing side of it and moving to the pitching side of it — the art form and the creativity.
“A lot of guys get comfortable with speed and you want that. But you also want it under control, and to have the ability to manipulate the ball any way you want.”
Those are words Pirates management wants guys like righty Roansy Contreras to hear and take to heart. Contreras was born in 1999, the year Hill graduated from high school. Contreras can overwhelm batters with his 96 mph fastball, but he won’t become a superstar unless he masters his curveball, slider and changeup.
Roansy Contreras and the Pirates’ other young pitchers should benefit from Rich Hill’s experience. (David Kohl / USA Today)
There are other lessons, too, such as how to go end-to-end over a 162-game season. And knowing when and how to dial it back a little during between-starts workouts.
“Being able to show how you go about your business proves to some guys, ‘OK, this is why he’s still pitching at 43,'” Hill said.
Other than a four-year stretch around the time of his elbow surgery, Hill has worked exclusively as a starter. His 1,259 innings pitched rank 38th among active pitchers.
Thursday, Hill stood casually in the clubhouse at PNC Park, sipping from a cup of coffee clutched in his left hand. He was in town for only a few hours to finalize his contract. He has a lot to learn about his new club over the coming weeks, beginning Feb. 15 when pitchers and catchers hold their first spring training workout in Bradenton, Fla.
Hill spent most of the past three seasons in the American League, so he doesn’t know much about the Pirates’ young pitching staff. His first two stints with the Red Sox in 2011-2012 and 2015 overlapped with Cherington’s tenure as Boston’s GM, so there’s some familiarity there. Hill said he’s “crossed paths” just a few times with Austin Hedges, who last month signed a $5 million deal to be the starting catcher this season.
Hill is trim and fit, but his beard has tell-tale flecks of grey. When his journey in pro ball began back during the George W. Bush administration, did Hill expect to still be pitching in his 40s?
“Yeah, I think I did, because this is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Hill said. “We were talking about it earlier today: ‘Did you ever play in Korea? Did you ever play in Japan?’ I said, ‘No … not yet.'”
Hill paused and laughed.
“All joking aside, I love playing the game,” he said. “The intensity and the competitiveness is tough to match. I know there will be an end to this. The window of opportunity is closing for everyone who puts on a uniform. But that hasn’t come yet, so I’ll keep going.”
(Top photo of Rich Hill: David Butler II / USA Today)
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