Hill nets award after 'extremely special' May

Rays left-hander Rich Hill was named the American League Pitcher of the Month on Wednesday, an accomplishment that might understandably prompt two questions.

After a rough April, how did he do it? And at age 41, how does he keep doing it?

Answering the first question, Hill first credited Tampa Bay’s excellent defense, from the infielders and outfielders to catchers Mike Zunino and Francisco Mejía. They undoubtedly played a part as half of the Rays’ pitching-and-defense machine -- but they were all there in April, too, when Hill posted an 8.82 ERA in 16 1/3 innings over his first four starts.

In a seven-start stretch since April 26, Hill has put together a 1.11 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings. It’s one of the best stretches of his lengthy career, complete with a 20 2/3-inning scoreless streak and a career-best 13-strikeout game against the Royals on May 25. That led to Hill’s third career Pitcher of the Month honor, and his first since July 2017 with the Dodgers (the other came in May 2016 with the A’s).

“Couldn't have happened to a better guy,” Rays lefty Ryan Yarbrough said. “Works his butt off, and you kind of just see the amount of passion [he has] and how much he loves this game and what he brings to our ballclub. You see how much he puts in the work, but for him to go out there and what he put together was extremely special.”

Hill said it took Spring Training and a few early starts to recognize that he needed to make better pitches in specific counts. He had no trouble throwing strikes from the get-go, but he might have been throwing too many, especially in 0-2 counts.

In the 28 plate appearances in which Hill got to an 0-2 count in April, he gave up six hits, including a double and two home runs. In 33 plate appearances after getting ahead 0-2 in May, the veteran lefty allowed only five hits, none of them for extra bases.

Hill also previously referenced the possibility that he’d been tipping his pitches with runners on base, which is why most of his early starts spiraled in one big inning. The numbers back up the idea that he addressed that issue, too. With runners on in April, Hill allowed 13 hits, including three homers and four doubles. In May, he faced 48 batters with men on base and allowed only five singles while striking out 13.

“Diving into a little bit more of the research and understanding what is going on, where we're having failures, is something that's important,” Hill said. “Because I knew the ball was coming out of my hand well, and I think that was just something to make that adjustment and go from there.”

Hill went 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA and 36 strikeouts in six May starts and became the seventh Rays pitcher to be named AL Pitcher of the Month. He led the AL in both ERA (0.78) and opponents’ average (.145). According to Stats LLC, it was the sixth time since 1947 that a pitcher age 41 or older led his league in ERA in a month; the others to accomplish the feat were Rogers Clemens, Nolan Ryan (twice), Hoyt Wilhelm and Satchel Paige.

How has Hill found so much success this late in his career? For one, he’s healthy. Hill credited Mike Reinold of Champion Physical Therapy and Performance, and the entire Rays athletic training staff for putting him in a good position to pitch. And most of Hill’s teammates speak highly of his incredible work ethic, which is evident even in the way he speaks about his preparation.

“We can go and go for a run. We can go and get in the gym. We can go and do a bullpen. But what's the intensity level? How are you going about it?” Hill said. “Because we can go through the motions and fool a lot of people or we can have a certain amount of intensity about the way we go about our business, and I've found that to be something that pays dividends.”

Rookie left-hander Shane McClanahan said it’s clear Hill “still loves the game and wants to get better every time.” Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said Hill “works his butt off” and “cares a ton.” Manager Kevin Cash noted that Hill’s work ethic and preparation can positively influence his younger teammates, all of whom would love to thrive like Hill still is at his age.

“He is always in the weight room. He’s always running. He’s always on top of his cardio, his bike,” Cash said. “So it makes a lot of sense as to why he gets on the mound and he's able to do what he does.”