OAKLAND – The Oakland Athletics did not sign Rich Hill to be a staff ace, and only wound up handing the veteran left-hander his first Opening Day start last month because Sonny Gray came down with a stomach virus.
At a relatively economical $6 million for one season, Hill was mostly added to eat up innings and lend stability to a rotation full of question marks behind Gray, who finished third in last year’s AL Cy Young Award voting.
But while Gray has faltered badly, and along with him most of Oakland’s rotation, Hill has become a model of consistency, the one starter the A’s can count on to give them a solid chance to win every time out.
That was the case again Wednesday, when Hill delivered his sixth quality start in his last eight outings, guiding Oakland to an 8-1 victory over the suddenly shaky Texas Rangers to complete the A’s first home sweep of at least three games since the middle of the 2014 season.
With Khris Davis contributing his latest tape-measure home run – he has gone deep four times in the last two games and nine times in May – Oakland stretched its modest winning streak to four games.
As opposed to the previous night, when Davis’ first career grand slam capped the A’s come-from-behind walkoff win, they didn’t need any late heroics Wednesday because Hill muffled the Rangers offense over six innings, allowing just three hits before departing with a 4-1 lead.
That improved his record to 6-3 with a 2.54 ERA, seventh-best in the AL, along with the league’s fifth-highest strikeout total of 59.
That’s a pretty good return on investment for the perpetually bargain-seeking A’s.
“We’re not going to go out and sign the highest-priced free agents,’’ A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re always looking for those guys who can give us the most value for the buck, and he was that guy.’’
Much like Scott Kazmir, who continued his career renaissance with the A’s before joining the Los Angeles Dodgers on a $48 million free agent deal this past offseason, Hill has bounced back from the depths of independent league ball to thrive in the majors.
In his case, Hill traveled that route in an effort to return to a starting role, after pitching in relief for all of his 119 games with four different teams between 2010 and 2014.
He spent most of 2015 in the minors and was willing to join the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League for the opportunity to show he could help somebody’s rotation, after starting in 70 of his 78 major league appearances from 2005-09.
Shoulder and Tommy John elbow surgeries rendered him a reliever, but all along Hill believed he had the stuff to be a starter, the role he performed early in his career with the Chicago Cubs.
“It’s what I wanted to do,’’ said Hill, 36. “I bet on myself and I knew it was going to come to fruition as long as I stayed consistent in my approach.’’
The payoff came with four eye-catching starts late last season for the Boston Red Sox – he fashioned a 1.55 ERA and struck out 36 in 29 innings – earning Hill a fair amount of interest as a free agent.
His hometown Red Sox wanted him back as a hybrid long reliever/starter, so Hill opted instead to join Oakland in what figured to be a fourth- or fifth-starter role. Instead, he has been their ace so far, allowing four hits or fewer in each of his last six starts, posting a 5-1 record with a 1.96 ERA in that spell.
In the last 24 starts, the A’s starters not named Rich Hill have gone 2-13 with an 8.64 ERA.
“He’s really taken it upon himself to be that guy that gets you real deep into games and takes pressure off the bullpen,’’ Melvin said. “After a couple of rocky games to start, he’s pitching exactly how we saw later on in the year last year.’’
Part of that was the result of moving to the third-base side of the rubber, which along with increased strength has improved Hill’s command. And after years of side-arming as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen, Hill went back in mid-July to his old over-the-top motion.
“My shoulder felt good and it just felt right,’’ Hill said. “I was able to repeat and be more consistent over the top. I felt like my breaking ball had more depth, and I was able to incorporate a changeup, which I didn’t use that much last time. With the two breaking balls I throw, along with the fastball, it creates great deception from over the top.’’
And outstanding results from an unlikely source.
