Rich Hill ready to return to Red Sox after rehab start vs. Yard Goats: ‘I’m excited to get back’

HARTFORD — Rich Hill has been doing this for a while. He’s been everywhere, man.

Hill, 42, has pitched 18 big league seasons for 11 different teams. There have also been 19 minor league stops, even a brief stint in the independent leagues.

Does that make a rehab start with the Portland Sea Dogs at Dunkin’ Donuts Park on Thursday night even harder at this stage of his career? Or perhaps easier?

“I’ve always had the same attitude, no matter where I’m pitching, whether it’s in the back field or the World Series, you’re the same guy,” Hill said after completing three strong innings for Boston’s Double-A affiliate against the Yard Goats. “The intensity’s there and the effort is there, every single time. Wherever it might be, if it’s in a bullpen in my hometown of Milton (Massachusetts), I’ll have the same intensity as I would in a Double-A rehab start or a postseason game. I just believe that if you practice the way that you’re gonna play, you’re going to be more successful that way. Since I’ve adopted doing that, it’s changed my career.”

Hill was happy with his outing Thursday. The big left-hander, who’s been on the injured list for the Red Sox since July 2 with a left knee sprain, allowed four hits and a run over three frames. He struck out five and walked none. The lone run came on an Isaac Collins home run in the third.

“I felt good,” Hill reported. “The ball came out well, threw a lot of strikes, kept the ball down, curveball came out the way I wanted it to, cutter was good. Guys played well behind me, and obviously behind the plate it was a well-caught game. So overall it went well.”

Hill was targeting four innings or 65 pitches, so being at 56 after three meant the end of his night.

“We didn’t want to push it too far, going back out for whatever the situation might have been,” he noted. “But I felt good physically, so that was the biggest thing. The ball came out of my hand the way I wanted it to. If I threw (56) pitches, I’d say 53 of them came out the way I wanted them to. Overall, pleased with the outing.”

So pleased that, according to Hill, his next start will be with Boston at Houston on Tuesday night. While that’s not official yet, Hill is excited to get back to help bolster a struggling Red Sox team and rotation.

“The guys are battling and fighting as hard as they can,” he said. “We’ve kind of been bit by the injury bug throughout the entire team — outfield, infield, pitching staff has been a little decimated. I’m excited to get back and help put the team in a position to win. Hopefully, we can make a good run at it here and get to the playoffs.”

Matt Barnes feels the same way. The Bethel native and former UConn star followed Hill in the fourth inning and retired the side in order on 13 pitches, striking out two.

“I thought the fastball life was good, had good command of that,” Barnes said. “The first two I yanked, but was able to make a nice adjustment, and felt really good about the curveball. So overall, it’s probably a more realistic outing. Everything’s not gonna go perfect, you’re gonna yank some stuff and spike some stuff once in a while. But I was able to make some adjustments in the game, get back in the zone and attack some guys.”

Barnes has been on the IL since May 31 with shoulder inflammation. He had thrown an inning for Portland in Hartford on Tuesday night. He’ll go again on Friday for a second straight outing with the Sea Dogs, then had back to Boston for the weekend, discuss his future plans with the staff and go from there.

Meanwhile, after DHing the night before, Christian Arroyo played second base Thursday and went 1 for 3 with an RBI before being lifted in the seventh inning. There was no word on his immediate future, but it certainly appears Arroyo is ready to get back to Boston to help a team ravaged by injuries but still trying to earn a playoff berth.

“Listen,” said Barnes, “this team had a really, really good month of June. We put ourselves in a really good position. Obviously, July has been a struggle. Not making excuses, but we are missing a ton of guys.”

Besides the three “Sea Dogs” in Hartford on Thursday, the team has missed key players like Chris Sale, Trevor Story, J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers, Michael Wacha and others for varying lengths of time in recent weeks.

“There’s nobody in that clubhouse that thinks this season’s over, that we don’t have a chance,” Barnes continued. “We rip off two weeks, three weeks, a month, August turns into another June, we’re right back in the wild-card picture. All you’ve got to do is get in. Last year, we got in on the last day of the season by beating Washington, because Raffy hit a three-run bomb in the eighth. Then, we’re two wins away from the World Series. Everybody in that clubhouse believes we have a very good team. We’ve just got to get there.”

david.borges@hearstmediact.com