Boston Red Sox Veteran Rich Hill Eying Return to MLB Entering Age 45 Season

Rich Hill completed his fourth stint with the Boston Red Sox in 2024, and the free agent is still dealing with Team USA at the Premier 12 over in Japan.

Aug 29, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Rich Hill (44) is congratulated by manager Alex Cora (13) after ending the eighth inning with a strikeout against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Rich Hill wants to keep pitching in 2025, MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported Thursday.

Hill, who is set to turn 45 years old in March, is currently with Team USA at the WBSC Premier 12 tournament in Japan. He took the mound in Day 1 of the Super Round on Thursday, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings against the host nation.

The veteran left-hander allowed one hit and zero walks with five punchouts in his latest outing. Hill has yet to give up an earned run in his 10.1 innings of action in Japan this month, all while boasting a 0.677 WHIP and 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

With that kind of production still on the table, it figures that MLB teams will be interested in giving Hill another chance. The four appearances he made with the Boston Red Sox in 2024 already made him the oldest active player in the big leagues by three full years, and he could continue to make history if he returns to action in 2025.

Hill is currently a free agent.

Rich Hill, 44, said to me this week that he wants to pitch in 2025.

Based on how he pitched tonight -- 4 impressive, scoreless innings against the No. 1 team in the @WBSC rankings -- he will have that chance in @MLB. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 21, 2024

Hill got his start with the Chicago Cubs in 2005, and after a one-year stint with the Baltimore Orioles, he joined the Red Sox for the first time in 2010. The lefty would eventually bounce around between the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres, making additional stops in Boston in 2015, 2022 and 2024.

For his career, Hill is 90-74 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.259 WHIP, 1,428 strikeouts and a 17.0 WAR. Across the six seasons, 30 starts and 44 relief appearances Hill has made in a Red Sox uniform, he is 12-9 with a 3.34 ERA, 1.193 WHIP and 3.8 WAR.

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