Fresh off getting slugger Nelson Cruz in a trade, the Rays are busy again. This time they've moved left-handed starting pitcher Rich Hill to the Mets in exchange for relief pitcher Tommy Hunter and minor-league utility man Matt Dyer, the Mets announced Friday afternoon.
The 6-foot-5 Hill is playing in his age-41 season and doing so at a pretty high level. He's 6-4 with a 3.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 91 strikeouts in 95 13 innings. For Hill, the Mets become his 11th MLB team.
The Mets have a potentially deep rotation, but there are injury concerns all over the place. Currently on the injured list: Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi, Noah Syndergaard and more. Their current rotation includes three healthy starters in Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker and Tylor Megill. It could get crowded eventually, but you can never have too much rotation depth.
The Mets have a four-game lead in the NL East entering Friday's action.
The Rays, meantime, seem pretty comfortable with their rotation depth. Right now, that includes Ryan Yarbrough, Shane McClanahan, Michael Wacha, Luis Patiño and Josh Fleming. The deal might seem weird to those who considered the Rays "buyers," but it's more just dealing from a position of depth and they add some beef to the bullpen here.
Hunter gets thrown into the Rays' mix of bullpen options. He's appeared in four games in the majors this season, having worked eight scoreless innings with a 0.88 WHIP.
Dyer, 23, was a fourth-round pick out of Arizona in the 2020 draft. So far this season in Class A, he's appeared in games at catcher, first base, third base and right field. He's hitting .194/.329/.452 with seven doubles, two triples, seven homers, 20 RBI, 20 runs and six steals in 36 games.
