A former first rounder who had a pair of stints with the Rangers in 2024
With the 2024 regular season over, it is time for us to go back and take a look at the players who appeared for the Texas Rangers this season.
Today, we look at outfielder Derek Hill.
The Derek Hill Saga in Texas in 2024 was one of those minor subplots that provided a certain degree of low-level drama to a disappointing season that had more than its fair share of minor subplots and low-level drama.
Derek Hill came to camp with the Rangers as a non-roster invitee. A former first round pick, all the way back in 2014, Hill had once upon a time been a well regarded prospect in the Detroit Tigers’ organization, then became less well regarded, then turned into an up-and-down guy who ended up being designated for assignment in 2022 and claimed on waivers by the Seattle Mariners, who cut him loose at the end of the season. He spent 2023 with the Nationals, mostly in AAA, though with 50 unproductive plate appearances in the majors.
As a side note, the 2014 first round is interesting to me, mainly because of how weirdly stratified it is. Three first rounders have put up between 35.3 and 38.4 bWAR in their careers — Aaron Nola (#7 overall), Trea Turner (#13), and Matt Chapman (#25). All three were college picks, for what it is worth.
Then there are five players who have put up anywhere from 13.2 to 18.0 bWAR in their careers — Kyle Freeland, Michael Conforto, Carlos Rodon, Kyle Schwarber and Jack Flaherty. Flaherty was drafted out of high school, the rest out of college.
After that, Michael Kopech and Erick Fedde have each put up 5.X bWAR in their careers. Connor Joe and Jeff Hoffman have 3.X. No one else has more than 3.
Weird, huh? Or maybe it is just me…
Also, weirdly enough, the first two overall picks in the draft — Brady Aiken and Tyler Kolek — never made the majors. Picks 5 and 6 — Nick Gordon and Alex Jackson — each have put up negative WARs for their careers. Picks 11 and 12 — Max Pentecost and Kodi Medeiros — have failed to make the majors, as have picks #19 and #20, Nick Howard and Casey Gillaspie.
The median bWAR for a 2014 first rounder is currently 0.0.
Anyway. Hill came out of high school as a guy who was a strong defensive centerfielder and baserunner, who didn’t project for much power but had some contact ability. His defense and speed were fine, but the bat never came around, and he had contact issues — coming into 2024, Hill had a .229/.279/.314 career slash line in 304 plate appearances in the majors, with 19 walks and 87 Ks.
Still, Hill is the type of guy teams want to bring to camp. He was 28 heading into last year, was a capable defensive outfielder, had some major league experience, was the type of guy you can take a look at and see if you can get some more out of offensively, and who gives you depth in AAA.
Hill had a strong spring training, though he didn’t make the team, since there wasn’t really an opening for an extra outfielder. Sent to AAA, Hill excelled for Round Rock, slashing .333/.387/.659 in 142 plate appearances (though with 35 Ks) through May 19, at which point he was called up to the majors.
The Rangers called up Hill to take the place of Davis Wendzel, who had been brought up to play some third base due to Josh Jung’s injury as well as provide a general righthanded bat off the bench or whathaveyou. Wendzel slashed .069/.069/.172 in 29 plate appearances, resulting in his being demoted and Hill being recalled, as the Rangers looked to find a righthanded hitter who could be productive.
Hill was 2 for 3 with a walk in his first game up, resulting in knee jerk predictions that Leody Taveras’s job was now in danger. The next day, Hill went 0 for 4, and then didn’t get a start again (and only got into three games, recording two plate appearances) over the next two weeks before being designated for assignment so Wendzel could be added back to the active roster. Wendzel was needed because Corey Seager was sidelined, though would not miss so much time that the Rangers needed to put him on the injured list. Seager’s unavailability meant the Rangers needed another infielder on the active roster, and so Hill was the odd man out.
That resulted in some argy-bargy about whether Seager should have gone on the injured list anyway, whether Hill got a fair shot or not, whether some other move should have been made. Seager hit a three run home run for the only three runs in a 3-2 win against the Dodgers on a day he would have still been on the injured list, had he been put on the i.l., so that worked out. Hill was placed on waivers, went unclaimed, rejected an outright assignment and became a free agent, then re-signed with the Rangers a couple of days later.
Then about three weeks later, the Rangers did this all over again. Ezequiel Duran, who wasn’t hitting, was sent down, and the Rangers purchased the contract of Hill so they could theoretically try him as a righthanded bat, designating Yerry Rodriguez for assignment in the process. Hill got some more playing time, slashing .265/.286/.529 in 35 plate appearances, though with one walk and 12 Ks. Hill ended up being designated for assignment once again on July 20, so that Justin Foscue could be called up.
The Giants claimed Hill, he played five games for them, and then he was waived by San Francisco, claimed by Miami, and put up a .234/.259/.402 slash line in 32 games while playing primarily center field. Hill is still on the Marlins’ 40 man roster, so he could be part of their major league team in 2025, or he could be back on waivers at the end of spring training.
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