{"id":104472,"date":"2025-07-21T16:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=104472"},"modified":"2025-07-21T16:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:48:08","slug":"veteran-southpaw-royals-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/21\/veteran-southpaw-royals-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Southpaw Joins Royals, Ties Record with 14th MLB Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/16\/royals-trade-pirates-frazier\/\" target=\"_self\">Kansas City Royals<\/a> have recalled 45-year-old left-handed pitcher Rich Hill from Triple-A Omaha, marking a historic milestone in his remarkable career, as reported by FanSided\u2019s Robert Murray. Hill, now set to pitch for his 14th MLB team, ties Edwin Jackson\u2019s record for the most franchises played for in a major league career. This move underscores Hill\u2019s enduring passion and competitive spirit as he joins a Royals squad fighting for a postseason berth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Royals are calling up Rich Hill, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ByRobertMurray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ByRobertMurray<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hill, 45 years old, has pitched in every major league season from 2005-2024 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TgOTBRqEw0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/TgOTBRqEw0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBONFOX\/status\/1947363892973166939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>The Journey of Dick Mountain<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hill\u2019s journey began in 2002 when the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/20\/cubs-trade-deadline-rumors-slowing-down\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago Cubs<\/a> drafted him in the fourth round. He debuted in 2005, embarking on a 20-year odyssey across 13 teams, including the Cubs, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/19\/red-sox-have-another-top-100-prospect-payton-tolle\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Sox<\/a>, Dodgers, and Padres. His career stats boast a 90-74 record, a 4.01 ERA, and 1,428 strikeouts over 1,409 innings. Notably, Hill\u2019s resilience shone through a 2017 no-hitter, which was broken up by a ninth-inning error, and a career renaissance with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/16\/multiple-relievers-generating-trade-buzz-around-dodgers\/\" target=\"_self\">Dodgers<\/a> from 2015 to 2020, during which he posted a 2.92 ERA. Last season, he pitched 3.2 innings for Boston, his fourth stint with the Red Sox, before being designated for assignment.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Trip to Omaha<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, Hill joins the Royals, a team lying five and a half games behind in the AL Wild Card standings, with a robust rotation led by <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/24\/war-tells-us-royals-largely-failing\/\" target=\"_self\">Kris Bubic<\/a> and Michael Wacha. His signing in May 2025 came as insurance for a pitching staff that injuries to Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo had hit. In Triple-A, Hill posted, recording a 5.36 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 42 innings. His fastball, averaging 88.9 mph, still baffles hitters with its veteran guile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Rich Hill, 45 years old and still racking up punchies \ud83d\ude24<\/p>\n<p>8 strikeouts in an <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OMAStormChasers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@OMAStormChasers<\/a> quality start for the 20-year big league vet!<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Royals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Royals<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MLB<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBNetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MLBNetwork<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0YW2fUvIkn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0YW2fUvIkn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MiLB\/status\/1938446568828637689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><b>Role in Kansas City<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the Royals, Hill\u2019s role will likely be as a long reliever or spot starter. Manager Matt Quatraro, who coached Hill in Tampa, praised his fiery competitiveness, noting to MLB.com\u2019s Brian Murphy, \u201cNobody wants to win more than that guy. Nobody is more fiery than he is.\u201d Hill\u2019s experience and mentorship will benefit younger pitchers, while his postseason pedigree\u2014 a 3.06 ERA in 13 appearances\u2014adds depth to a playoff-contending club. However, with a stacked rotation, Hill must prove he can still compete at the major league level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Hill takes the mound, fans await whether he\u2019ll cement his legacy or chase a 15th team, further etching his name in baseball history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Royals have recalled 45-year-old left-handed pitcher Rich Hill from Triple-A Omaha, marking a historic milestone in his remarkable career, as reported by FanSided\u2019s Robert Murray. Hill, now set to pitch for his 14th MLB team, ties Edwin Jackson\u2019s record for the most franchises played for in a major league career. This move [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,4454,12],"tags":[269],"class_list":["post-104472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-baseball-history","category-royals","tag-rich-hill"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104472"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104488,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104472\/revisions\/104488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}