Aaron Hill

From BR Bullpen

Aaron Walter Hill

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.
School Louisiana State University
Debut May 20, 2005
Born March 21, 1982 in Visalia, CA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Aaron Hill has played in the major leagues since 2005. Born in Visalia, CA, he attended high school in Visalia and then went to Louisiana State University. In 2002 with LSU, he hit .329 and slugged .550, while the next year he hit .358 and slugged .592. In the 2002 World University Championship, Hill batted .400/.531/.920 with 4 doubles, 3 homers and 9 RBI in 7 games, but failed to make the All-Tournament team. He was a first round pick in 2003 by the Toronto Blue Jays.

He impressed at his first minor league stop, hitting .361 and slugging .492 in 33 games at Auburn of the New York-Penn League. Moving the same year to Dunedin in the Florida State League, he hit .286 but without power. In 2004, he came up to AA ball in the Eastern League, hitting .279 and slugging .410. He started 2005 with Syracuse of the AAA International League, but showed that he was ready to move up to the big club by hitting .301 and slugging .468 in 38 games.

He had been a shortstop in the minors, but in the majors in 2005 was primarily a third baseman, and in 2006 was mostly a second baseman, although he played some shortstop both seasons. He has been a full-time second baseman since and has progressed defensively to the point where he is considered one of the best at the position in the majors. He hit .274 in 2005, and .291 in 2006, both years without much power, and without stealing many bases.

The Blue Jays' second baseman was awarded the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2009 season. He returned to the starting line-up on opening day after a serious concussion suffered in 2008 from a collision with David Eckstein in June forced him to miss the rest of the season. Hill suffered for months with headaches, sleepless nights and dizzy spells. He came back in fine form, and joined his fellow Blue Jay Roy Halladay in the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis. He finished the season with a .286 average in 158 games, and was first among MLB second basemen in home runs, RBIs, total bases and at-bats. ^[1] He led the American League in at bats and plate appearances, the result of playing nearly every game while hitting second in the line-up, while topping 100 runs and RBI for the first time of his career, in addition to his 36 home runs.