Inside The Red Sox

Ex-Red Sox Hurler Placed On Waivers, Would Reunion Make Sense?

The veteran is far past his prime

Scott Neville

Ex-Red Sox Hurler Placed On Waivers, Would Reunion Make Sense?
Ex-Red Sox Hurler Placed On Waivers, Would Reunion Make Sense? /
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The Boston Red Sox's rotation has been a revolving door from the jump. A recent season-ending injury to James Paxton continues said trend.

The story of the second half has been the inability of Red Sox starters to get through the fifth inning -- a highly unsustainable development. 

The Red Sox need an innings eater. Someone who fits that definition recently became available and has many ties to Boston.

"Heard the (San Diego) Padres have put Rich Hill on waivers to see if someone will pick him up for the last few weeks of the season," The New York Post's Joel Sherman tweeted Tuesday. "If not, he will remain with the club."

Hill started the year with the Pittsburgh Pirates and posted a 4.76 ERA, 104-to-47 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .272 batting average against and 1.48 WHIP in 119 innings across 22 starts. 

That version of Hill could have helped the Red Sox marginally. Since then, however, the 43-year-old has shown his age. The journeyman has a 9.25 ERA since joining the Padres at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline across eight starts. 

At this point in the season, Boston is better off giving as many reps as they can to young guns such as Nick Robertson, Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter. The latter two are in Worcester at the moment but likely will return at some point this season.

Hill made some semblance of sense at the trade deadline -- though his decline was predictable -- but it would be silly to add him at this point. Yes, the bullpen is taxed but Hill hasn't done anything to show he'd be any better than the current group in-house.

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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