Derek Hill making case to stick with Marlins into 2025

[Kevin Barral]

The former first-round pick has found consistent playing time in a depleted outfield, driving in 10 runs through his first 10 Marlins games.

Following the trade deadline, the Miami Marlins looked to the waiver wire to fill out their active roster, just to patch things together for the rest of 2024. One of those additions was outfielder Derek Hill, a former first-round draft pick who had been with five other MLB organizations over the previous couple years. Since arriving, Hill isn't warming the bench: he's being used as an everyday player and even in a small sample, his solid production is worth noting.

Hill was activated on August 5. He has played in ten games and started nine in a row, slashing .257/.270/.429/.699 with one home run and 10 RBIs. The 28-year-old has mainly played center field, including on Friday night against the New York Mets. He is appreciative of the consistent playing time.

"It always helps," said Hill. "(Marlins manager) Skip (Schumaker) was straightforward with me: 'You're gonna go out there and if you succeed, we're gonna continue to give you an opportunity.' That's kind of where my headspace is."

Four years removed from his MLB debut with only 0.7 fWAR to show for his career, Hill had been considered a Quad-A player. Right now with the Marlins, he will have his best chance to change that narrative.

One thing that pops out is Hill's success against left-handed pitching, a career .841 OPS entering Friday. He came inches away from homering off of Mets lefty Sean Manaea.

Hill noted that early on in his career, he was actually better against right-handed pitching, but since going to AAA, he's been hitting lefties better, something that the Marlins as a team have struggled with the past couple of years.

Looking ahead to 2025, Jesús Sánchez is expected to be Miami's starting right fielder. The other outfield spots are up for grabs with Dane Myers, Victor Mesa Jr. and Kyle Stowers (among others) being in the mix for Opening Day jobs.

Hill's RBI double was not nearly enough to overcome struggles by Marlins pitchers Roddery Muñoz and George Soriano as the Mets scored six in the bottom of the fourth inning, ultimately winning by a final score of 7-3. The series continues on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. ET.

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[One Regend]

I'm not buying it. Derek Hill is the type of player the Marlins are starting because they don't have a whole lot of other better options. He's the Justin Ruggiano of 2024. He's a guy that's having success in a small sample size now, but is going to be cut in Spring Training next year when it comes to roster crunch time. I'm not going to lose sleep over him if he gets cut. We shouldn't have a 29 year old minor league journeyman be the "face" of our franchise.

If Victor Mesa Jr wasn't injured and done for the rest of the season, I guarantee you he'd be on the roster right now playing in LF instead of Derek Hill.

If we wanted a stopgap that would help our prospects endure their growing pains next year, then we should be going after former All-Stars who are in their twilight and will likely retire the following year with Miami as their final destination before retirement. A perfect example of a free agent next year that's exactly like this is Jason Heyward. He would be a wonderful mentor to our young outfield.

[Chad Turner]

Well I actually think we can start winning next year.  But we have work to do to get there.  This is the kind of player who can help us win vs rushing Mesa up when he's not ready.  Hill and Myers could just be late bloomers. 

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Good pickup. I like Hill and he will have a chance to stick in Spring Training - lots of competition, though.