After beginning the 2019 regular season with Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill on the 10-day injured list, the Los Angeles Dodgers are on the verge of having their projected Opening Day roster in place.
Kershaw has made two starts since being activated more than one week ago, and Hyun-Jin Ryu made a speedy return after suffering a strained left groin in the second inning of his April 8 start against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Meanwhile, Hill has spent the past month building up to bullpen sessions, a simulated game and eventual rehab assignment. Though the veteran left-hander was confident in his health after throwing four shutout innings for High-A Rancho Cucamonga, the Dodgers elected to have Hill make another rehab start.
It was expected to come with Triple-A Oklahoma City or Double-A Tulsa, but inclement weather forced Hill to instead fly to Camelback Ranch so he could face batters in extended Spring Training.
According to Joe Davis of SportsNet LA, Hill was dominant over six innings:
Rich Hill reluctantly went and made an additional rehab start against extended spring training hitters and struck out 16 in 6 innings and that is hilarious.
— Joe Davis (@Joe_Davis) April 23, 2019
With a pitch count sufficiently built up, that’s paved the way for the 39-year-old to be activated for his 2019 debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Rich Hill will start Sunday for Dodgers against Pirates.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) April 23, 2019
Hill’s first start of the regular season will come in what’s the series finale against the Pirates. Hill coming off the IL will also mark the end of Ross Stripling’s time in the starting rotation; Julio Urias was bumped into the bullpen when Kershaw was activated.
Hill is in the final season of a three-year, $48 million contract signed with the Dodgers in December 2016.
