Rich Hill, 44, is signing a minor league contract with the Red Sox, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
It will be the southpaw’s fourth stint with the organization after playing five seasons (2010-12, 2015 and 2022) with the team throughout his 19-year MLB career.
He will reportedly join Triple-A Worcester on Sunday or Monday, per ESPN’s Buster Olney.
Hill returns to professional baseball after spending the 2023 season with the Pirates and Padres, tossing 146 ⅓ innings with a 5.41 ERA in 32 games (27 starts).
If he makes it to the majors this season, Hill will be the oldest player in the big leagues — a title he held last season as well.
He will be the oldest player to make an MLB appearance since 45-year-old Ichiro Suzuki played in 2019 and the oldest pitcher since Bartolo Colon took the mound at 45 in 2018.
After debuting with the Cubs in 2005, Hill struggled to get a foothold in the big leagues through his first 10 MLB seasons, bouncing between six organizations before his second stint in Boston in 2015.
That year, at the age of 35, Hill turned four excellent starts with the Red Sox into a one-year deal with the A’s, and he’s been a fixture in rotations across the majors since.
In 382 career games (248 starts), Hill has a 90-73 record with a 4.01 ERA.
Hill is aiming to join a Red Sox team that’s on the fringes of the American League wild card race.
At 63-57 heading into Friday’s play, Boston is 2 1/2 games back of the Royals for the third AL wild card spot.
The Red Sox starting rotation has been hit hard by injuries in 2024, losing Lucas Giolito, Garrett Whitlock and James Paxton for the year at different points of the season.