Rich Hill (44), a 44-year-old pitcher, also pitched well against the Japanese national baseball team. 스포츠토토
Hill of the U.S. national team started against Japan in the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 Super Round held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 21st (Korea time) and recorded just one hit and no runs in four innings.
The U.S. team lost 1-9, but Hill did his part. Takahashi Hiroto (1.38 ERA) of the Junichi Dragons in the 2024 Japanese pro baseball league, who was the starting pitcher, was also in full swing. Takahashi allowed two hits and one walk in four innings.
Hill turned over the mound with a 1-0 lead, but the U.S. immediately allowed a 1-3 upset as soon as he went down.
Hill allowed Ryozuke Tatsumi (Rakuten Eagles) a hit to center field after one out in the bottom of the first inning. He then completely blocked the Japanese batters with strikeouts or misfires until the fourth inning.
Hill posted 58 pitches on the day, and his strike rate was 74 percent (43). He struck out five without a walk.
Hill has had no earned runs in three starts of this year’s event. He started his first Group A game against Puerto Rico on Saturday and had two hits, three strikeouts and no runs during three innings. He then pitched 3 1/3 innings with two hits, six strikeouts and one run (zero earned run) in the game against Mexico.
Since his debut in the big league in 2005, Hill has posted 90 wins and 74 losses with an ERA of 4.01. So far, 13 big league teams have gone through rough times. From mid-2016 to 2019, he was a teammate of Ryu Hyun-jin (current Hanwha Eagles) with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Recently, the team has clearly seen a downward trend. The last double-digit win was in 2018. After signing a minor contract with the Boston Red Sox in August this season, he entered the big league and allowed only two runs in three and two thirds of innings in four games. He was released by the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 10.
Hill, who does not currently have a team, is looking for a new one. In a recent interview, Hill said, “I love work and competition,” adding, “We have to see what happens in the future. We don’t know if this tournament (Premier 12) will be over or not. Time will tell.”
Hill did not take responsibility for many innings when taking the mound, but he played his role to perfection. In total, Hill had five hits and no runs in three games, 10 1/3 innings. The batting average is 0.139. He has 14 strikeouts, seven times more than walks (two). The on-base allowed rate (WHIP) is 0.69.
