Non-roster left-hander Rich Hill had been away from the Red Sox since the start of camp due to a family health issue. On Thursday, he arrived in camp and elaborated on his absence, passing along the sad news that his newborn son has died.
“We had a son on December 26 and he was born with multiple issues that we confronted and had to deal with, as we were moving through the last couple of months at Mass General,” Hill told WEEI’s Rob Bradford. “Unfortunately he succumbed and he has passed. He taught us a lot of things, and unfortunately things didn’t work out.”
Hill made the trip to Florida with his wife and 2 1/2-year-old son, and they’ll remain together as the southpaw attempts to win a spot in the Boston bullpen.
The 33-year-old Hill, who was born in Boston, spent parts of three seasons with the Red Sox before joining the Indians a year ago. He had a 6.28 ERA in Cleveland, though that came with 51 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings. He chose to return to Boston in part due to family reasons. “It was a strong correlation there,” Hill said. “Fortunately I had the opportunity to come back. The Red Sox have been tremendous with this whole part of our life.”
