The Hill that rose in the desert

In baseball, one month of strong play doesn’t make a career. In the case of Aaron Hill, one month may have been long enough to save one.

Just two short years ago, Hill thrust himself into the conversation of one of the best second basemen in baseball. There was some evidence to support the conversation; he led his position in home runs in 2009 and was near the top in slugging percentage, OPS and total bases. He wasn’t too shabby with his glove, either, winning his second career Fielding Bible Award. He made the All-Star team and was the recipient of the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year Award after missing most of the 2008 season with a concussion.

For someone who had just signed a four-year, $12 million contract the offseason before with the Blue Jays – with whom Hill had spent his entire career – a strong future in Toronto seemed inevitable for the then 28-year-old. Of course, baseball rarely works out the way it’s supposed to, and over the next two years Hill experienced that first-hand.

Calling Hill’s 2010 season a minor underachievement would be like calling Brad Pitt only kind of handsome. His batting average dropped from .286 to .205. His hits went from 195 to 108. His on-base and slugging percentages both dropped dramatically. Hill struggled in every offensive category one could look at. Still, it seemed premature to write Hill off considering he was one year removed from a monster breakout campaign, and he deserved a chance to bounce back.

He got those chances, but production refused to follow. Although his batting average rose slightly, his OPS fell even further. The 2009 version of Aaron Hill no longer existed. Love from fans turned into frustration and Hill was no longer considered the team’s long-term answer at second base.

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Any questions about that fact were answered this season on August 23, when Hill and Blue Jays fan favorite John McDonald were shipped from Toronto to Arizona in exchange for fellow second baseman Kelly Johnson. On the surface it seemed like a pretty basic deal between the two clubs. Johnson, like Hill, had struggled in 2011 after having success in previous years. It was a swap of under-achieving two-baggers, with both teams hoping a change of scenery would remedy the situations.

But there was a little twist. Johnson was heading to a team with virtually no chance of a postseason appearance, whereas Hill was dropped right in the middle of a playoff race. A much larger weight was put on Hill’s shoulders, as a failure to produce could have borne terrible consequences.

Needless to say, if it was a gamble for both teams, it was especially so for Arizona. Production was needed, but shipping out a popular clubhouse player in the midst of a playoff run for a guy who didn’t bring a guarantee of better play isn’t necessarily a recipe for success.

But sometimes the most unconventional recipes create the most delicious foods.

Hill thrived in his new Arizona digs, solidifying second base in a way Johnson couldn’t. In 33 regular season games with the Diamondbacks, Hill put up a line of .315/.386/.492, compared to his .225/.270/.313 line in  104 games with the Jays in 2011. Hill helped Arizona into the playoffs, where, in his first taste of postseason play, he had an .879 OPS during the five-game series loss to Milwaukee. If someone had been in a coma between late 2009 and the time of Hill’s trade to the desert, the numbers wouldn’t seem that surprising. But for the rest of us, it was downright miraculous.

More D-backs: The Subtle Return of the Arizona Diamondbacks

Jim McClennan writes for AZ Snake Pit, SB Nation’s Arizona Diamondbacks blog, and, like everyone else who follows or cheers for the Diamondbacks, Hill’s month-long rebound in the desert was most definitely a surprise.

“You can’t ask for a more radical turnaround in a player’s season,” said McClennan. “He hit for average, he hit for power – almost as many extra-base hits in 33 games with the D-backs (16), as in 104 with the Blue Jays (22) – drew walks and played solid defense. He drove in virtually the same number of runs for us as Carlos Beltran did for the Giants.”

Hill’s newfound ability to take pitches also caught the eye of those who watched him in Toronto.

“The one big change I noticed in Hill’s game from Toronto to Arizona was that he suddenly started drawing more walks.” said Ian Hunter, who runs the popular Blue Jays blog The Blue Jay Hunter. “Hill had 23 walks in 429 plate appearances with the Blue Jays this year compared to 12 walks in 124 plate appearances with the D-backs. It’s a small sample size, but that’s about a walk every 18.65 PAs in Toronto versus a walk every 11.83 PAs in Arizona.”

Hill’s turnaround not only brought his personal numbers back to respectable figures, but it balanced out the rest of the batting order, which was something Johnson failed to do, according to McLennan.

“The Diamondbacks needed a reliable No. 2 hitter to bridge the gap to Justin Upton and Miguel Montero in the heart of the order. Johnson had been there, but ineffectiveness got him dropped down the order. Stephen Drew then occupied the role, but his season was ended by injury. That slot is where Hill spent the great bulk of his time with the D-backs, and [it’s] where his value came from.”

It’s easy to notice Hill’s offensive production with the D-backs, but that only tells part of the story. According to Nick Piecoro, D-backs beat writer for the Arizona Republic, it took Hill some time to get used to being in a pennant race, and that he has been a pleasant surprise.

“When he came to the Diamondbacks, he always said ‘these guys’ instead of ‘us’ [when mentioning the playoff run] because he wasn’t part of the run from the beginning,” Piecoro said. “He felt a little off. But coming into the winning environment helped; he was allowed to just be himself.”

The turnaround shocked more than just disgruntled Hill fans, too.

“I don’t think [Arizona’s front office] expected him to be a bad offensive option, but no one saw this.”

Hill’s success with Arizona brought criticism, as anybody who goes from hitting against pitching from the AL East to pitching from the NL West should see an increase in their stats.

In San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, Hill hit .305. Plus, he was doing so against hurlers like Tim Linecum and Matt Cain. All told, Hill hit against top-tier talent while with the D-backs, and he hit well.

In the end, though, Hill’s strong play in Arizona has definitely helped the chances of the D-Backs picking up the team options on his contract. Prior to the 2011 season, the Blue Jays had already declined a team option on his contract for 2014.

Whether Aaron Hill stays in Arizona, goes back to Toronto or joins one of 28 other franchises around the league, he has bought himself another chance to prove he belongs in the majors. Had he not been dealt in the first place, that might never have happened.

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