Rich

Hill

Hill looked good in his start on Wednesday night, throwing four scoreless innings against Team Japan, the number-one ranked team in the tournament. The 44-year-old allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Red Sox in 2024 and will hope that another team gives him a chance to prove himself.

Team USA, managed by Mike Scioscia, will play in Mexico from Nov. 9-14. If it advances out of the group stage, the Super Round will take part in Tokyo from Nov. 21-24. Touki Toussaint, Dan Altavilla, Dylan Covey and Anthony Gose are among the other major league veterans on the roster. Top prospects include Carson Williams (Rays), Matt Shaw (Cubs), Termarr Johnson (Pirates), Justin Crawford (Phillies) and Drake Baldwin (Braves).

There’s been nothing from Hill since the move to DFA him about whether he’ll try to find another team right away. He made just four appearances for Boston and allowed two runs in 3 2/3 innings.

That was quick. The 44-year-old made only four appearances for Boston in the 20th season of his career. He allowed two earned runs and struck out five in 3 2/3 innings. This could be it for Hill, who’s likely to clear waivers and unlikely to accept a minor league assignment with Boston.

He’s back. Hill reunited earlier this month with the Red Sox on a minor league contract and will be available to pitch at some point during Tuesday’s showdown against the Blue Jays in relief of starter Cooper Criswell. The 44-year-old southpaw’s remarkable career continues. There’s pretty much zero fantasy appeal at this stage, but he’s one of the most fascinating pitchers of his era.

Hill was signed to a minor league contract last week, and there was some speculation that he would quickly fill in for James Paxton in the rotation, but Cora pumped the brakes a bit on that narrative. Despite Hill having thrown bullpens before a workout he held for major-league teams two weeks and also facing hitters in the Cape Cod League in early August, Cora is in wait-and-see mode. “There’s no promises,” the Red Sox manager said, but even if Hill does make it to Boston, he’s not guaranteed a spot in the rotation. “He can start, he can open, he can come in in leverage, but first things first, let’s get him back on the mound, back to competing, and then we’ll go from there.” For fantasy purposes, it seems like Hill may not be much of an option in 2024.

The 44-year-old southpaw is officially back with the Red Sox. He’s expected to report to Triple-A Worcester early next week. It sounds like Hill feels that he’ll only need a rehab start or two before he’s ready to contribute at the big-league level, but we’ll believe that when we see it.

Bradford adds that it’ll be a minor league contract. This one certainly felt inevitable after newly-acquired veteran left-hander James Paxton suffered a partially-torn calf muscle earlier this week. The 44-year-old left-hander, who currently lives in Massachusetts, held a showcase earlier this month for interested teams and looks like he could step in right away and contribute for the Red Sox. He’s unlikely to make any sort of impact for fantasy managers, but it’s pretty incredible that he’s coming back for a 20th season in the big leagues, even if it’s just a few weeks.

The 44-year-old Hill has been throwing with the idea of coming back and pitching for a team in August. It’d be disappointing if he signed with the Yankees or Dodgers, though, just because he’s pitched for both before and it wouldn’t add to his total of 13 teams in his career.

No indication yet on where exactly Hill will wind up at this juncture or whether there’s any actual interest from teams. However, the 44-year-old left-hander appears set on returning for what would be his 20th season in the big leagues since 2005. He was largely ineffective late last year with a calamitous 8.23 ERA in 10 appearances (five starts, and five relief appearances) following a midseason trade to the Padres. Yet, there’s probably some appeal here for a contending franchise to bring him in as a low-risk dice roll to see if there’s anything left in the tank.