The New York Mets ended a four-game losing skid on Wednesday after a previously-suspended game had resumed, and it was Rich Hill who started out on the mound after Carlos Carrasco surrendered four runs before the rain took away his start after just one inning of work.
Hill's outing wasn't much better — he got through three innings scot-free before unraveling in the fifth and ultimately giving up three more runs — but one display of pure effort, intensity and determination made it hard to get all that mad at the veteran.
Mind you, Hill is 41 years old, has played for 17 years and is batting a paltry .112 in his career. Getting on base probably wouldn't take precedence over other parts of the game for most players in Hill's shoes, but that certainly wasn't the case on Wednesday. Whether or not he was safe is beside the point; the effort tells the whole story.
Tom Tango, a senior data architect for MLB Advanced Media, had an incredible Twitter thread which showed just how quickly Hill managed to get to first base (4.15 seconds) and just how slowly he was running in doing so (26.1 feet per second). So how'd he get there so quickly? Tango explains that it was all in the running start.
By the way, if I can run 90 feet in 4.15 seconds when I'm 41 years old, I'll be pretty darn happy with that. Sure, he may have been compared to famous "The Office" side character Mose Schrute in terms of his running style, but that's pretty impressive athleticism for old man Hill.
Somehow, as entertaining as this bunt was for the Mets' new-ish pitcher, it doesn't quite beat another display from Hill from earlier this year.
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