Will this contract wrinkle result in a KC Royals debut for veteran hurler Rich Hill?

While the Kansas City Royals pitching staff continues to carry them in 2025, that hasn't stopped them from acquiring several veteran arms for minor league depth.

This past weekend we saw one of those arms get his shot at the big league level again when the Royals called up reliever Trevor Richards, and soon the Royals could be faced with the decision on whether or not another one of those names will get the call.

Rich Hill signed with the Royals less than a month ago, but according to FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, Hill has the option to opt out of his deal should he not reach the majors by June 15.

So, the question now looms large this week of whether or not the Royals will send Hill packing or make him the oldest active player in Major League Baseball?

Will Rich Hill crack the KC Royals roster by June 15?

Hill's tenure with the Royals has been fairly respectable between the two stops he's made within the organization so far.

He started his Royals journey in the Arizona Complex League with a brilliant debut of four perfect innings. However, when it came time to follow that performance up the following week, the 45-year-old veteran looked like a shell of himself, throwing of innings four-run ball off seven hits (two of which were homers).

Overall, his stay with the ACL Royals saw him throw to a serviceable 4.50 ERA alongside an impressive 0.88 WHIP and .226 BAA.

Despite the rough second start in the ACL, Hill progressed up to Triple-A as planned, where like rookie-ball he also had mixed results.

In his first outing in Omaha, Hill would throw five innings of three-run ball off five hits (two of which were home runs), one walk and one hit batsman. However, by the time his second start came around, he looked like the season pro that had lasted two decades in the big leagues. He'd go six innings of one-hit ball, allowing no earned runs walking two and hitting one.

Overall, he would end his tenure in Omaha with very respectable numbers, throwing to a 2.45 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and .162 BAA.

All that to say, further starting pitching is not a dire necessity for the Royals at the moment. Heading into Tuesday's action the Royals hold the fourth lowest ERA of any major league starting staff, along with the seventh lowest WHIP, the sixth lowest BAA and the eighth lowest FIP.

They're also in the predicament of running with six starting pitchers after Cole Ragans returned late last week, indicating if anything they need to cut starting pitching rather than add.

Now, it would be wrong to say that Hill hasn't impressed enough to warrant another shot in the major leagues. With sub-3.00 ERA numbers in Triple-A there's surely a team that could use a depth arm like that, even if that's not the Royals.

After pitching on Saturday, Hill will likely get a chance to make one more start as a Storm Chaser before June 15, when he’ll need to make a decision on whether or not Kansas City is the place for him to attempt a big league comeback.