Hill won't pitch until midseason after elbow surgery: 'I'll be back'

Veteran free-agent pitcher Rich Hill underwent elbow surgery following the 2019 season and won't be able to pitch until June or July next year, according to Bill Plunkett and J.P. Hoornstra of The Orange County Register.

Hill had a procedure known as a primary revision to address an issue from his Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in 2011. The procedure requires a seven-to-eight-month rehabilitation process.

"This wasn't an option six years ago," the 39-year-old said, according to Plunkett and Hoornstra. "This guarantees I'll be back. Given where I'm at in my career, how much longer I'd like to play, the percentage of success is upward of 95%."

Hill said 10 teams expressed interest in him during the general manager meetings earlier in November, according to Hoornstra.

The left-hander is a free agent after three-and-a-half seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hill, who will turn 40 years old in March, has been an effective starter when healthy. He was limited to just 13 starts last year but posted a 2.45 ERA and 4.10 FIP. In each of the previous two seasons, the journeyman reached the 130-inning plateau, authoring a 3.49 ERA and 3.84 FIP combined between 2017 and 2018.