Rich Hill – Oakland Athletics
At the age of 36, Hill is experiencing a career renaissance in Oakland through his first nine starts of 2016. After showing a flash of this in four late-season starts for Boston a year ago, the left-hander has been the ace of an A’s staff that counts Sonny Gray as a member.
Hill is 6-3 with a 2.54 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 49.2 innings of work. That ERA is seventh-best in the American League, as is his 1.3 fWAR. With an FIP of 2.93, he places sixth, which is ahead of such names as Corey Kluber, Marcus Stroman, and Jordan Zimmerman.
There are other pitching metrics where Hill is near the top of the league as well, including strikeouts per nine, home runs allowed per nine, and percentage of homers hit off his fastball. While his performance thus far may not be sustainable given his career numbers, Hill should get a look for a spot on the AL all-star staff.
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