The Rangers announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Derek Hill. Infielder Davis Wendzel was optioned after Sunday’s game, opening up a spot on the active roster. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Austin Pruitt was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Prior to the official announcement, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News relayed on X that Hill was with the club.
Hill, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in the winter and has been playing in Triple-A so far this year. He has eight home runs in 142 plate appearances for Triple-A Round Rock this year and is currently batting .333/.387/.659 overall. Even in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that still translates to a 150 wRC+, or 50% better than league average.
The Rangers will be hoping that this represents some kind of turnaround for Hill, who has struggled in previous major league tries. He has 304 big league appearances to this point, mostly with the Tigers but also spending some time with the Nationals. He only hit four home runs in that time and had a line of just .229/.279/.314.
His performance in Triple-A this year has obviously been vastly better than that, but it’s not the first time he’s found success at that level. He 11 homers in 83 Triple-A games in the Nationals’ system last year while slashing .317/.373/.509 for a 119 wRC+. That got him a look in the majors but he was outrighted less than a month later after failing to transfer his strong results to the big leagues.
He doesn’t need to hit too much to be a useful player since his wheels allow him to steal some bases and run down some balls in the outfield. The Rangers will give him a try to see if this is the time where things finally click for him in the show.
The Rangers have been dealing with a few injuries to their outfield mix, which is likely part of the reason they called upon Hill today. Wyatt Langford has been on the injured list for a couple of weeks due to a hamstring strain. Evan Carter has only started once since May 8 due to some back stiffness. Adolis García has been dealing with some forearm soreness recently after colliding with Marcus Semien on a shallow fly ball. García last started on Saturday and isn’t the lineup tonight.
Hill gets a start tonight in the outfield next to Leody Taveras and Ezequiel Durán, with Robbie Grossman in the designated hitter slot. The playing time distribution going forward will likely depend upon those aforementioned health situations and the performance of everyone stepping in at the moment.
If Hill can find some success, he can be retained well into the future since he has less than two years of major league service time. However, he is out of options and can’t be easily sent back down later in the year.
As for Pruitt, he landed on the IL April 21 due to a right knee medial meniscus injury. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement. That means he could be reinstated in about a month’s time if he’s healthy by then, though it’s unclear when the clubs expects him to be back in game shape.
Wishing Derek Hill success with the Rangers as he’s the poster child for not drafting high school hitters in the 1st round since he never amounted to much of anything after the Tigers drafted him in round One several years ago.
This is also why I’m still disappointed the Tigers drafted Max Clark over Wyatt Langford last year as I fear Clark will become Derek Hill v 2.0 in due time. Hope I’m wrong
Luckily, it’s not exactly like Langford is lighting the world on fire. I do have to say, though, if Max Clark fails, I think it says more about Detroit’s ability to develop hitters. He was one of the more advanced high school prospects in recent memory.
You’re absolutely right about Detroit’s ability to develop hitters. There have been a couple players who made it (can’t miss type), but other than Granderson, Catellaneous and Greene, there’s been a decades long drought. They’ve destroyed a lot of careers.
(Kerry Carpenter is different. He went outside the organization to get instruction.)
First round high schoolers in Detroit. Ummh Riley Greene has entered the conversation to vounter your point. Hope Hill does well in Texas. Great defense.
Riley Greene is about the only high school player the Tigers have drafted in the first round with any success what so ever. Check your history and you’ll find Tiger legends such as Les Filkens drafted in 1975, Matt Brunson in 1993 and Scott Moore in 2002. There are many more high school hitters outside of these 3 (Rico Bronga) the Tigers have missed on but I guess one out of 66 means they’ve had success, right MC Beach Bum?
Not an 0 Fer 66. They’re batting like Rob Deer!
Here is a historical list of the Tigers 1st round picks as its interesting to review and see all of the misses they’ve had over the years.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Detroit_Tigers_first…
Thanks for the list. LOTS of misses for sure. But then there are some good high school players too: Lance Parrish; Travis Fryman; Tony Clark and Nick Castellanos. High School players are tough. I remember thinking Maybin was going to be a superstar.
Ever heard of Bryce Harper? How about a kid named Derek Jeter. The Tigers drafted Rick Porcello in the 1st round right out of high school.
If anything, 1st round, HS pitchers are the bigger reach. Hitters, not so much.
Would loved to have seen TX replace Knizner with Huff as well. Hill’s numbers have been good at AAA against LHP so maybe that helps and he is a better OF than Grossman or Duran. I really thought they might refresh BP with A. Anderson, Shreve or Kelly. I do not have much faith in G. Anderson and only moderate faith in Yerry or J. Hernandez. CY should probably be on the phone with CWS for Crotchet and or Kopech or with Nats for Harvey or STL for Helsley.
Very good defender, hard worker, never takes a play off. Hope he makes it this time…
Good Luck, Derek!! Always pulled for you in your Tigers Days….
Hope he stays healthy. That was part of the problem in Detroit. Great glove!
Bruce Bochy is already bored and wishes he was fishing down in Mexico instead.
Always liked Hill, and I hope this is the year he finally starts hitting.
Daddy Orsino, a great person, gets another chance to cheer for his boy at the top level. Good for both of ’em.
He never got much of a chance in Detroit.
2 Hits, 1 run!