PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Moments after he found out he was traded on Tuesday, veteran pitcher Rich Hill was discussing the Josh Palacios home run and how special that Pirates moment was. He paused for a few seconds collecting himself, because he did believe the Pirates are building something special.
“Seeing guys develop, seeing guys grow into really good players and guys that are going to become great major league players I think moving forward,” Hill explained. “That's something that is pretty special. Again, the time, obviously, you got to make the most of it and it's very fleeting and escaping. I know that sitting here at 43 and looking back when I was 25 and thinking that this would last forever.”
“I think that looking at guys in that locker room who are 25 and younger, just seeing the opportunities that are in front of them are precious and just bring the same effort every single day and make sure you leave no stone unturned, really."
“Right from day one of spring training just the voice and the ear for young pitchers in terms of listening to what they’re doing and watching how he goes about his day,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton of Hill. “The one thing I continually talked about is intent. He has intent with every pitch. He is emotionally attached to every pitch and I think that’s a wonderful thing for young players to see because it shows how much he cares.”
He wasn’t the only veteran to go. 1B Ji Man Choi, who missed most of the year due to injury, and catcher Austin Hedges. As Cherington put it, if fans got to know Hedges they would have loved him.
“We acquired them (along with Carlos Santana, who was traded last week) all this past offseason with the intent to get better,” Cherington said. “We felt they could help us get better in 2023. We hoped that would mean we were having a different conversation today.”
“I do believe we got better in part because of their contributions both on the field and off the field. So they did exactly what we hoped that all four would do. We will be rooting for them.”