What to expect from new Padres pitcher Rich Hill
Credit: AP Photo
On Tuesday morning, hours before the trade deadline, the San Diego Padres acquired left-handed starting pitcher Rich Hill along with first baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
For the pair of veteran players, the Padres sent prospects Jackson Wolf (#16 prospect on MLB.com), first baseman Alfonso Rivas, and 17-year-old outfielder Estuar Suero.
The Padres were searching for another left-handed arm to put in the rotation, and Hill is exactly that. Though he is Major League Baseball’s oldest player at 43 years old, he still has something in the tank and has a track record of being a great clubhouse guy.
In 119 innings for Pittsburgh in 2023, Hill has started 22 games and has a 7-10 record with a 4.79 ERA. He has also struck out 104 in those 119 innings with a WHIP of 1.479. While these numbers certainly don’t jump out as numbers of a guy that would seem overly desirable at the trade deadline, Hill’s value goes beyond his numbers.
Hill will be joining his 13th organization with the Padres, and with that comes 19 years of Major League experience. Hill also has postseason experience, as he has pitched 57 innings in the playoffs with a 3.06 postseason ERA. Hill has also been to two World Series, but he lost both times while a member of the Dodgers.
Hill brings an arsenal of pitches, though he mostly sticks with a curveball, a fastball, a slider, and a cutter. Hill uses his heavy-breaking curveball most often, with a 36.5% usage rate in 2022 with the Red Sox. He also can display different arm angles with each pitch which has allowed him to stay in an MLB rotation through age 43.
While he does not throw hard (fastball usually around mid-high 80s) or even have spectacular numbers so far in 2023, Rich Hill could be a great addition to the San Diego Padres while they are looking for more consistency in the last 55 games of the season. He will certainly give the clubhouse a savvy veteran presence and could rub off on and teach some of the pitchers that will be working next to him.
On top of that, Rich Hill is a stand-up guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve. He will tell it like it is, which is something that I think the Padres could use at a time where they find themselves looking in the mirror due to inconsistent performances. Welcome to San Diego, Rich Hill.
Kevin is a San Diego Native covering the San Diego Padres and their affiliates
Preller proved he is horrible at his job in his first few months, and it has only gone downhill from there. This trade deadline has cemented him as the worst GM in history, by far. A person has to try hard to be this bad. He made a bunch of moves that only makes this team WORSE at the ML level, while giving up some value at the prospect level. Who does that? Who does that and still has a job?
what are you talking about? They upgraded now and barely lost any prospects of real value. I’m all for holding him accountable, but don’t make stuff up.
None of the players acquired move the needle, at all. They are all replacement level, or worse (except, possibly, the minor leaguer who won’t play this year).
That is not made up, it is quantifiable.
They did give up value (how much is another question). Those players had value, if not for future trades which would/could, in fact, improve the team, rather than adding guys at the end of the bench who are hard to distinguish from below replacement players.
Barlow, Choi and Cooper will play. Almost daily.
Move the needle? The team us full of all-stars, they needed role players not more attitudes.
You can’t prospect hug when you are going for a World Title.
Going for a world title? I wish. This deadline was milquetoast. If they are not already out of it now, they will be by Monday. By the middle or end of August there will be hopes of cutting costs for tax purposes (and rightfully so). They have to find whatever cancer there is and get rid of it, not to mention getting a new GM.
lol
Yup. And it keeps getting worse.