Sad News: Rip To The Yankees have unearthed a significant asset in their seasoned bullpen pitcher.
Back in June, the White Sox would DFA Tim Hill after a stretch of poor outings, and as he cleared waivers the Yankees would ink him to a deal. The left-hander was seen more as a placeholder in a bullpen that would be overhauled, the kind of arm we would cut ties with to make space for other pitchers who would be imported onto the roster. With a 5.87 ERA on the season before making his debut with the Yankees, there wasn’t much-perceived upside here, especially since his game isn’t reliant on missing bats, something that didn’t fit well with a bullpen that couldn’t punch tickets.
Fast-forward to right now, and Tim Hill has become a key cog in a bullpen that’s starting to find its identity, and while the Yankees probably didn’t anticipate him earning high-leverage innings, he’s now one of their top options against lefties.
One of the areas that the Yankees have been weakest all year has been their bullpen, especially on the left-handed side of things. Tim Hill is filling a massive hole on this roster that was left behind when Wandy Peralta signed with the San Diego Padres, which is what they hoped one of Victor Gonzalez or Caleb Ferguson would do coming into the season. It became an even greater need after the deadline, where the Yankees didn’t do a great job landing pitching depth, and notably couldn’t land a left-handed reliever.