Rich Hill remembers his time with the Nats: "Great organization"

Dodgers Game 2 starter Rich Hill had a very good spring training with the Nationals in 2015, but the club ultimately chose Xavier Cedeno for the opening day roster. Hill had finished with a 2.25 ERA in nine spring training games, making him one of the last cuts in the bullpen.

"Yeah, a great organization," the left-hander said. "Enjoyed the time that we had here in spring training, the guys here in spring training. Just the camaraderie that they had, the intensity of Max Scherzer, watching him prepare during spring training."

Hill appreciated his time with the Nationals because of how the players did what was ultimately the best for the team.

He used the example of his Game 2 counterpart Tanner Roark, who switched in 2015 from being a starter to a reliever because of the amount of starters the Nationals had coming out of spring training.

"The selflessness of a Tanner Roark, this is going back to last year, how many games did he win in '14? Fifteen, right?" Hill asked. "And he goes in the bullpen, and there were 29 other teams that said, 'We'll put him in the rotation.'

"But to have guys that will put their own accolades aside or, not so much careers, but they will sacrifice certain things for the team, that's what I saw there was a very good team environment."

Hill was with the Nationals on a minor league contract and pitched in 25 games with Triple-A Syracuse. But after that, he took his release.

"(I) would have liked to have seen it work out here, sure, no doubt, because of everything that was going on in spring training, like I had said before, just the guys on the team, it was made of a team, a team, a group of guys that everybody was pulling for each other," Hill said.

He then went back home, tinkered with his mechanics and found a major solution.

"I was at home for about a month, and working out with the American Legion team that I grew up playing for, playing catch every day, working out," Hill said. "I threw a couple longer bullpens. It wasn't until a couple of weeks that I was at home that I decided to start changing my arm angle and throwing over the top again.

"I felt strong. I was able to repeat, repeat, and be consistent with my release point. So I threw a few 75-pitch bullpens, and made the decision to go to (independent league) Long Island and start again. And made two starts there, felt good. Body felt strong. Was able to repeat my delivery. Was able to have the ball come out of my hand the way that I wanted to for those two starts.

"I knew after I had those two starts that there was something that, given the opportunity, could possibly happen. I mean, I felt that good."

The Red Sox were then the next club to give him a chance and he pitched five games for Triple-A Pawtucket. He pitched so well upon being called up to Boston - 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA and a shutout in four games - that iseveral teams came calling in the offseason.

"I was very humbled by getting multiple opportunities to have major league jobs to pitch for many teams and chose Oakland," Hill said. "Then from there, got a great opportunity with Oakland and got traded here to L.A. and here we are."

Hill has gone 3-2 with a 1.86 ERA in six starts with the Dodgers. On Sept. 10 against Miami, he fired seven no-hit innings before leaving with a blister. Overall, he finished 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA this year.

At 36, Hill also has experience with Nationals manager Dusty Baker while with the Cubs in 2006.

"From him, he would always say, 'Talk is cheap, so go out there and do it.' " Hill said. "I think that's something that you can hear in his interviews even here in Washington. He just wants to go out there and give everything that you've got. Your effort is judged only by yourself.

"And to go out there and give everything that you have every single time, that's all anybody can ever ask. He was extremely personable. He was very supportive, and that was something that I'll always remember about him, being a manager."