On May 21, Defector's Ray Ratto informed you that it was time to start the "Rich Hill is BACK" countdown. A little over three months later, on July 23, I am happy to inform you that the Rich Hill is BACK countdown has officially ended, because Rich Hill is BACK, and this time with the Kansas City Royals!
Since signing his minor-league deal, the 45-year-old Hill has put up a 5.22 ERA over 11 starts in the minors. Two of those starts came at the Rookie ball level—where, according to Baseball-Reference, he is 23.9 years older than the weighted average age of players in Rookie ball—while the remaining nine came in Triple-A, where he is a mere 17.5 years older than the average. While the ERA is less than ideal, Hill averaged a little less than six strikeouts per start.
