Milton's Rich Hill becomes oldest active player in MLB by starting for Royals at 45 years old
He gets Kyle Tucker looking for his first strikeout with the
— MLB (@MLB)
Hill became the oldest player to start a major league game since May 27, 2012, when lefty Jamie Moyer tossed his final game with Colorado at age 49.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said there was no pitch-count limitation on Hill, noting the lefthander was 'built up' and had been in the 90-pitch range at Omaha.
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'Well, it speaks to his drive, right?' Quatraro said. 'He's played this game forever and clearly he's not doing it for the money or being a big leaguer. He's doing it because he loves it and because he can still be good at it.'
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At 45 years and 133 days, Hill became the oldest player in Royals history, passing Hall-of-Fame righthander Gaylord Perry, who appeared in two games with Kansas City in 1983 after he turned 45.
The 6-foot-5-inch Hill began his career with the Cubs, making his big-league debut with a one-inning relief appearance against the Marlins on June 15, 2005. He gave up two runs and three hits.
Hill had been at Omaha after
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He made 11 postseason starts during his four years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including two World Series starts in 2017 and another in 2018. He went 11-5 during the latter regular season.
Hill is 90-74 with a 4.01 ERA in 368 career MLB games. He has pitched 1,409 innings and has struck out 1,428.
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