Tim Hill

Traded from the Royals to the Padres shortly before the start of the delayed 2020 season, Hill made 23 appearances, totaling 18 innings in his first season in San Diego. Major League Baseball implemented the three-batter minimum, but even so Hill ended up facing a greater percentage of lefties than he did in 2018-19 (45 of 79 batters faced). With his funky delivery and heavy-sinker approach, Hill keeps the ball on the ground and in fact has only allowed two home runs to left-handed hitters in his career. Righties have had far less trouble with him, managing a 1.44 HR/9 against Hill. He's a throwback finesse specialist, throwing around 90-91 mph with a modest career 23.1 K%. Manager Jayce Tingler will call on Hill when he needs a groundball in a left-on-left matchup in the mid-to-late innings. Perhaps Hill will vulture a save or two along the way.

Hill is a funky-delivery lefty reliever who has been used in two roles -- to get lefties out in tight situations, or to soak up work in the bullpen in blowouts. Hill's delivery has held lefties to a .211/.276/.248 slash line in his time with the Royals, while righties have hit him at a .259/.332/.434 clip. The new rules in 2020 mandating pitchers face at least three hitters increase the importance of Hill doing better against righties, or he could find himself marginalized to the minor leagues. He has minimal appeal in his current capacity in standard-scoring fantasy leagues. If Hill is moved to a contender, as has been rumored this winter, he could generate some interest in leagues that count holds though even then his middling K-rate (career 22.6%) would render him a last-resort option.

There's a myriad of reasons why a player's MLB debut doesn't occur until he's 28 years old. In Hill's case, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2015. After a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, Hill became a cancer survivor and reembarked on his career. Perseverance paid off as Hill broke camp with the Royals, making his debut on Opening Day. Hill went on to appear in 70 games, throwing 45.2 innings, mostly as a situational lefty. Hill was used more in high-leverage spots after the break, recording eight of his 13 holds and registering a 2.50 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 15 punchouts in 18 second-half frames. His success down the stretch likely earned Hill more higher-leverage opportunities out of the gate this season. However, his low innings along with a pedestrian strikeout rate deprive him of fantasy value, except in leagues scoring holds, and even then there are likely better options.