Rich Hill is enter the third and final season of his contract in 2019, and given his age, it may be the 37-year-old’s last time as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even though his name came up in trade rumors this winter, Hill seems content with his current situation.
Hill has been solid in parts of three seasons with the Dodgers, battling through multiple blister issues. He additionally has stepped up as a major contributor in the postseason, helping the team to back-to-back World Series. In 47 innings during the postseason, Hill has earned a 2.66 ERA and held opponents to a .193 batting average.
While that success has helped him stand out, Hill believes the entire Dodgers starting rotation deserves credit, telling MLB Network Radio that he views it as the league’s best while also heaping praise on longtime pitching coach Rick Honeycutt:
“I mean this is coming from an unbiased opinion but it sounds like it’s bias because being with the Dodgers, I feel like we have the best starting rotation in baseball. It definitely speaks to Rick Honeycutt and his ability to communicate with each and every one of us and give us the game planning and the skills we need to go out there and execute for every single outing. Dealing with the personalities that we have in the starting rotation is something that he does very well. Every single guy in that rotation comes to work every single day. You hardly see them in the locker room because they’re doing something. They’re either in the video room game planning or looking at how they can get better.”
There are plenty of elite pitching rotations around Major League Baseball at present time. Hill, though, may have a point. The Dodgers extended to ace Clayton Kershaw last November, keeping him for three more years. Kershaw will likely slot ahead of Walker Buehler, who excelled in his rookie season.
Hill will join Hyun-Jin Ryu and either 2018 All-Star Ross Stripling or Kenta Maeda to fill out the rest of the rotation. All six pitchers battled injuries in 2018, but the Dodgers will have plenty of starter depth behind them even after trading Alex Wood.
