JaCoby Jones is gone and Derek Hill is here, and maybe this is an upgrade for the Tigers. It was definitely an upgrade Tuesday night. In the first start of his career at Comerica Park, nearly seven years to the day since the Tigers' drafted him 23rd overall, Hill created one run at the plate, another on the bases and saved a couple in the field in Detroit's 5-3 win over the Mariners.
"He brought it all together tonight and showed why we’re high on him being a potential big leaguer for a while," said A.J. Hinch.
For a while, it felt like he'd never arrive. Drafted out of high school in 2014, Hill floundered for years in the minors. His bat let down his glove. It let down his speed, his arm and his athleticism. It nearly scrubbed him from the Tigers' future. In six years, Hill went from Detroit's No. 1 prospect to unranked in its top 30.
And the Tigers, desperate to replace Austin Jackson, went from one center fielder to the next. The names are numbing, painted in the past like graffiti. Anthony Gose. Mikie Mahtook. Jones might have been the brightest among them, until he faded this season. Look who's back in the race.
Look who ripped an RBI single in the second inning Tuesday, then took an extra base on a bobble by the left fielder. Look who led off the fifth with a single to right, then swiped second and came around to score on a single.
And look who jumped on his horse in the fourth. With Matthew Boyd protecting a 4-1 lead, look who hauled in a deep line drive to center with a runner on first. And three batters later, with two outs and two runners on, look who raced down a potential triple in the right-center gap. Look at 25-year-old Derek Hill.
"He had some really good at-bats," Hinch said, including a line-out in the sixth. "When he gets on base he’s a real threat. But tonight the defense was spectacular."
That's Hill's calling card, and this is his chance. He earned a brief stint in the majors last summer, but mostly as a defensive replacement or a pinch-runner. Hinch wants Hill to play every day. With the Tigers starting a week-long homestand, Hinch wants him to saddle up in center and try to change the game.
"As a manager, the outfield defense in this ballpark can either be exposed or be a strength," Hinch said Tuesday on MLB Network Radio. "And Derek makes us a lot better in center with his range and his arm."
Hill's had the defensive chops to thrive in Comerica Park for several years. But this year he's starting to hit. He was batting .355 with a .943 OPS in Triple-A, "one of the first times in his track record he’s put up some offensive numbers," said Hinch. That earned him a call-up to the majors. Nights like Tuesday could earn him a career.
"In this park this week I’m going to give him a pretty long leash to play out there and see if we can catch some of that Triple-A momentum that he had at the plate," Hinch said. "Because if he does anything on offense, you see what Michael Taylor can do in Kansas City, and I had Jake Marisnick in Houston.
"There’s some guys that when they play an elite center field, you can tolerate, ‘Just be an offensive producer at some level and we’ll be able to find a spot for you.'"
Over the last five seasons, Taylor's hitting .245 with a .712 OPS. He's played 396 games because he's tied for fourth in the majors in defensive runs saved in center field. Marisnick, a key cog of Houston's championship-winning club in 2017, is hitting .232 with a .701 OPS over the last seven seasons. He's played 624 games because he's eighth in defensive runs saved in center.
On the same list as Taylor, Jones ranks 22nd. Truth is, he never played an elite center field. He cost the Tigers more runs than he saved, according to the data. It doesn't take data to see that Hill can be different.
"When you give up a ball that's running away into the gap and all of a sudden you just see him in stride running that thing down, it’s pretty special," said Boyd. "He’s super talented, so it’s fun to have him out there."
Orsino Hill was a first-round pick of the Reds who topped out in Triple-A. The former outfielder was in the stands Tuesday in Detroit to see his son go a step further. Hill smiled afterward and said these days, his dad doesn't offer much in the way of advice. Like Hinch and the Tigers, Orsino is content to let Derek Hill run.
"He keeps it pretty simple now," said Hill. "He just says I’m riding the horse and the reins are mine. He just steps back and lets me play."