Rich Hill posted incredible strikeout totals in the minors while coming up through the Cubs’ system and had a 3.92 ERA with 183 strikeouts in 195 innings in his first full season as a starter in 2007.
Unfortunately because of injuries and prolonged bouts of wildness that stands as Hill’s only full season as a starter, and during the past three years he’s logged a total of just 81 innings in the majors with an ugly 6.53 ERA and 64/59 K/BB ratio.
After spending most of last season in the minors Hill joined the Red Sox in September and tossed four scoreless innings out of the bullpen, and now Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports that they’re looking at him as a possible relief option for 2011.
He’ll compete for a bullpen spot on a minor-league deal that will pay $580,000 if he cracks the Opening Day roster and it could be a head-to-head battle with fellow control-impaired southpaw Andrew Miller. Hill’s fastball-curveball combo is definitely good enough to make an impact as a reliever, but counting on the 30-year-old lefty to simply throw the ball over the plate consistently is a big question mark.