On Tuesday, Rich Hill will step onto a Major League mound once again — this time wearing a Kansas City Royals uniform. But this isn’t just a veteran getting one last shot. At 45 years old, Hill will become the oldest pitcher to appear in an MLB game since Jamie Moyer, who pitched at age 49 in 2012.
It will also mark his debut for a record-tying 14th Major League team, placing him alongside Edwin Jackson for the most franchises played for in MLB history. Yet for Hill, this moment isn’t about records or novelty — it’s about continuing to compete, two decades after he first stood on a big-league mound.
And fittingly, that return will happen in the exact same ballpark where it all began.
On June 15, 2005, a 25-year-old Rich Hill made his MLB debut for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, facing off against the then-Florida Marlins. The Cubs’ starter that day? Greg Maddux, a Hall of Famer nearing the end of his legendary career. The Marlins’ left fielder? A 22-year-old Miguel Cabrera, already flashing MVP potential. His future Royals teammates Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone hadn’t even started kindergarten.
Now, 20 years later, Hill is expected to pitch at Wrigley Field once again — this time as the grizzled veteran.
Hill’s 2025 return places him among some of the game’s oldest active pitchers in the modern era: He will become the seventh-oldest starting pitcher to take the mound in an MLB game in the last 75 years. His 14th team ties the all-time record held by Edwin Jackson, also a pitcher, for most franchises played for, a testament to Hill’s journeyman path and the value he’s continued to offer over time.
After a brief four-game stint with the Boston Red Sox in 2024, where he pitched 3.2 innings in relief, Hill didn’t hang it up. Instead, he signed with the Kansas City Royals and began his 2025 season in the Arizona Complex League before being promoted to Triple-A Omaha, where he threw 42 innings with 48 strikeouts and a 5.36 ERA.
He also impressed on the international stage, representing Team USA in the 2024 Premier12 Tournament, making three appearances with a 0.00 ERA. His best outing came against World No. 1 Japan at the Tokyo Dome, where he threw four shutout innings, allowed just one hit and struck out five, up against a lineup featuring some of Nippon Professional Baseball’s best hitters.
Whether this will be Rich Hill’s final season remains to be seen. But if it is, it’s hard to imagine a more fitting stage than Wrigley Field — the place where it all began in his Major League career.
In 2025, he’s trying to show he still has a little something left in the tank.
Photo: Rich Hill brings chairs up from the clubhouse to sit on with his teammates in the dugout before the start of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, June 1, 2017, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
