For the Yankees teams of late, left-handed pitching out of the bullpen has not often been at a surplus. They made a low-stakes move at addressing that mid-season in 2024, when they picked up a down-and-out Tim Hill. He immediately flipped a switch upon arrival in the Bronx, and became one of their more reliable arms out of the bullpen down the stretch.
Tim Hill remained steady in 2025, and got a healthy workload out of Aaron Boone’s relief corps. He is likely to be leaned upon again in 2026 as a funky
left-handed specialist, as he has certainly earned a level of trust on the mound.
2020 Stats: 67 IP, 3.09 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 1.10 WHIP, 4.97 K/9, 2.15 BB/9, 1.07 HR/9, 0.0 fWAR
2021 ZiPS Projections: 66 IP, 4.15 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, 5.13 K/9, 2.63 BB/9, 0.89 HR/9, 0.1 fWAR
Tim Hill debuted in the majors back in 2018, and despite getting decent work in each subsequent season since then, he had never put up particularly convincing numbers a reliever. He hit rock bottom in 2024 when, after 23 innings with the 121-loss White Sox, he was released.
Two days after he unexpectedly hit the market, the Yankees took a flier on the 34-year-old side-winder. The move became a sneaky steal, as Hill pitched 44 innings for the Yanks down the stretch to the tune of a 2.05 ERA, and eventual inclusion on the Yankees roster throughout their World Series run that season.
Unsurprisingly, his success and reliability earned him some credit with the Yankees, and Hill parlayed it into a two-year deal with New York. Although 2025 was not quite the resounding success of the previous season for Hill, he was still very solid out of the ‘pen. Most importantly, he could be relied upon to take on plenty of work, and do a nice job when the opportunity came.
In fact, his 70 appearances and 67.0 innings were the highest totals out of any Yankees relievers last season. It’s clear that the Yankees relied on the veteran lefty, and for the most part, he gave them plenty of reason to. In his full workload, Hill managed a 3.09 ERA (though with a slightly more troubling 4.30 FIP), while posting a 5.9 percent walk rate, the lowest of his career. Given his pitching style, he will never post the eye-popping numbers of a dominant reliever, given his sub-90 MPH fastball and strikeout rates below 15 percent, but he clearly has been able to make it work, especially since his arrival in the Bronx.
With his funky delivery, solid control, and an ability to induce ground balls at well over a 60 percent clip, Hill can more than hold his own in a role that demanded 70 appearances last season. Going forward, there’s little reason to expect much different out of the lefty.
His projections are not far off from the performance he put up in 2025, unsurprisingly. The numbers, of course, will never jump off the page given his style, but the Yankees will probably continue to lean on Hill in 2026. This is not only because he has shown himself to be a dependable major league reliever, but because he’s one of just two lefties projected to be in the Yankees bullpen to begin the season, the other being Ryan Yarbrough, who may end up making starts at certain points as well.
Tim Hill may not be called upon in the highest leverage spots, or striking out half of the batters he faces, but he has carved himself a nice role in the Yankee bullpen as a sinker-heavy specialist, and clearly has earned plenty of trust. Whether he can continue his solid success into his late 30s will have to be seen, but there’s plenty of reason to believe he can maintain what he’s shown over the last two seasons.
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