Yankees 2024 Roster Report Cards: Tim Hill

If there is one thing the Yankees ' front office and coaching staff are good at, it is taking throwaways from other organizations' bullpens and turning them into impactful relievers. Tim Hill was no different this season. A castaway on one of the league's worst teams, Hill found his form in the second half, cementing himself into Aaron Boone's circle of trust during the playoffs.

Hill brought a unique energy to the mound, often finishing off pitches with a hop to go along with his funky delivery. He's the type of guy who epitomizes what baseball is about, that different skills can thrive if used the right way. A free agent this offseason, those skills are something I am sure the Yankees would like to retain for bullpen depth — if the price is right.

Grade:

Free Agent

Carrying a 5.87 ERA into June, the historically bad White Sox decided to part ways with the veteran lefty. The Yankees took a flyer on Hill, and he made his debut with the team on June 20th. From there, Hill was new man, posting a 2.05 ERA over 44 innings pitched with the Yankees.

One of the reasons that the Yankees are successful with these bullpen projects is that they see a particular strength in a player and then lean into that strength. What the Yankees saw in Hill was his sinker, and as his ERA began to drop, his sinker usage climbed. Hill threw his sinker 68% of the time in July, 74 % in August, and topped out at 86% usage in September. In the final two months of the regular season, Hill gave up four runs, good enough for a 1.33 ERA.

Hill's arsenal will never jump off the page, but he is elite in a few important categories that make him effective. His 68% groundball rate is one of the best in baseball, largely thanks to his sinker and unusual low arm angle. If you then pair his 1.7-percent barrel rate (one of the best in baseball) with an average exit velocity of 88 mph, you get a reliever that the Yankees trusted, even with men on base, to get a big groundball to get out of an inning.

The Yankees' rag-tag group of relievers was a talking point heading into the playoffs but manifested into a strength for the club. Hill was a large part of that, particularly in the ALCS. After giving up three straight singles—all on balls hit under 92 mph—the night prior in Game 1, Hill would bounce back in Game 2. Navigating the heart of Cleveland's lineup and with the Yankees clinging to a one-run lead, Hill was able to get five outs without surrendering a hit.

That outing allowed the Yankees to build on their lead and ultimately take Game 2. Hill would make quick work of Josh Naylor in a one-run game with a runner in scoring position in Game 3, before being asked to face the top of Cleveland's order again the following night. His only blemish in Game 4 would be an infield single, before again retiring Naylor in a one-run game.

Game 5 would be Hill's shining moment of the playoffs. With the game tied in the bottom of the sixth, Hill was called into the game with an inherited runner at first. After issuing a soft single to Bo Naylor, Hill would go to his bread-and-butter, the sinker, and get a groundball double play to end the inning.

Hill would follow up that inning by getting Steven Kwan to ground into another big double play in the bottom of the seventh, preserving a 2-2 game. An unsung piece of the Yankees playoff run, Hill's presence may be most felt in a game he did not appear in. In Game 1 of the World Series , Aaron Boone went with Nestor Cortes over Hill to face Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. Boone was likely spooked by the matchup with the righty Betts, but Yankees fans are left to think about what could have been. Lefties had hit just .187 off of Hill since he made his Yankees debut.

Hill would finish with a 1.08 ERA across 10 appearances this postseason, capping off a turnaround second half that the 34-year-old will look to parlay into a pay raise this offseason.