Dodgers: 3 players who resurrected their careers in Los Angeles

Rich Hill

In July of 2015, Rich Hill, 35-years-old, was out of Major League Baseball, hoping to make a comeback with the Long Island Ducks. After pitching for seven different teams in the majors, the calls for a Big League chance had dried up. It seemed as if he would become another player who had made it to the show, only to have his health and skillset fail him at the highest level.

Nobody, including Hill, himself, could have guessed he would end up signing a multi-year million dollar contract with the Dodgers only two years later.

Hill’s resurrection started in Oakland in 2016, where he pitched effective enough to convince the Dodgers to acquire him in a mid-season deal, along with Josh Reddick. At 36, finding himself on the DL again, this time for a finger blister, it was anyone’s guess whether the left-hander would prove able to pitch consistently over a full season.

But Hill’s comeback story was just getting started. Over the final weeks of the 2016 season, the southpaw helped the Dodgers win the National League West. He went 3-2 with a sparkling 1.83 ERA, striking out 39 batters while walking only 5 in six starts. After a rough outing against the Nationals in the NLDS, he was superb in a loss to the Cubs in the NLCS, pitching six shoutout innings, allowing only two hits.

The Dodgers rewarded his comeback in the offseason with a three-year, $48 million contract. Hill would pitch two more effective seasons in Los Angeles, before injuries interrupted the final year of his new contract.

After being marked for early retirement, Hill pitched three plus seasons with the Dodgers, going 30-16 with a 3.16 ERA and impressive 10.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 ratios.