Rich Hill has turned into Rays' No. 2 starter
Drew Silva highlights the value that veteran signing Rich Hill has provided the Tampa Bay Rays and fantasy managers this season.
Video Transcript
DREW SILVA: Surprise, surprise, the Rays found yet another bargain this winter in veteran starter Rich Hill, who was brought in on a one-year, $2.5 million free agent contract in February and has produced a 3.05 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 63 strikeouts through his first 62 innings this season. It did not look like such a great addition in the early part of April. Hill had an 8.82 ERA over his first four starts, but he turned a corner in his final outing of that opening month with a 10-strikeout performance against the Athletics.
And the left-hander has registered a dominant 0.99 ERA in a span of eight starts between April 26th and June 5th. At 41 years old and with a history of durability issues, the Rays haven't always let Hill work as deep into games as fantasy managers might like, but that comes with the territory on most Tampa Bay starters. And the strategy generally makes sense as a way to keep Hill healthy and effective.
You can take it all in stride for a guy who went mostly undrafted in standard fantasy formats this spring. Hill has gone from having to settle for one year, $2.5 million, and getting very little fantasy attention to being the second best rotation option for the defending American League champions.
