David Hill Stats & Scouting Report

IP	238
ERA	4.424
WHIP	1.324
BB/9	2.269
SO/9	8.66

Full name David Joseph Hill
Born 05/27/1994 in Whittier, CA
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 195 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School San Diego
Drafted in the 4th round (107th overall) by the Colorado Rockies in 2015 (signed for $550,000).

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Hill has been on scouts' radar for several years, ranking No. 188 on the BA500 in 2012 as a senior at El Modena High in Orange County, Calif. He turned down the Phillies as a 17th-round pick and spent a season at Long Beach State before transferring to Orange Coast CC and ranked No. 259 last year on the BA500 before transferring again, this time to San Diego. Hill has pitched with a brother at each stop; older brother Michael was at Long Beach State, while twin Jacob was at OCC and is at San Diego. David Hill presents a similar package as he did the last two seasons but has had good timing to have a strong season in a down year for college pitchers. His velocity has ticked up this season, sitting solid-average at 90-92 mph while hitting 93 and 94 more regularly than in the past. He's effectively wild and has enough life on his fastball that hitters struggle to square him up; opponents where hitting just .173 against him. His hard slurve remains inconsistent but has had its moments and profiles as solid average. He gets a lot of strikeouts with his hard, split-grip changeup, which has some late tumble. Hill profiles at the back of a rotation since neither of his pitches grades as a true plus, but he has a good frame at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds and a track record of results.

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Hill was a 17th-round pick of the Phillies out of high school but opted to attend Long Beach State. He said would have signed had he gone in the first five rounds. After pitching one year at LBSU he transferred to Orange Coast (Calif.) JC and then San Diego. He signed for $550,000 as a fourth-rounder with Colorado in 2015. Hill's first pro season was limited to 14 starts at low Class A Asheville before he was sidelined by thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. All went well and he is expected to move at full speed in 2017. When healthy, Hill has the stuff and approach that could allow him to jump to Double-A Hartford by midseason. He has a quick arm and live 90-94 mph fastball but was overly reliant on it last year as he eyed having a major surgical procedure. Hill will focus on developing his plus curveball and making his changeup become a bigger part of his repertoire. His ability to throw strikes was underscored in 2016--he struck out 82 in 82.1 innings and walked just 14 with the Tourists. Hill is slated to start 2017 at high Class A Lancaster.
Drafted in the 17th round by the Phillies in 2012, Hill instead went to school, where he pitched with his older brother Michael at Long Beach State. He then transferred to Orange Coast (Calif.) CC to pitch with his twin Jacob. Jacob and David then both transferred to San Diego. The Rockies selected David in the fourth round in 2015 and signed him for $550,000. Hill made a strong first impression in limited work at short-season Boise, where he recorded a 3.09 ERA with 23 strikeouts and nine walks in 23 innings. The righthander throws with an easy delivery, competing down in the zone with a 92-94 mph fastball, and he can reach back for a tick more on occasion. Hill mixes in a hard, yet inconsistent, slider and a split-grip changeup--both of which can be average pitches but neither projects as plus. The Rockies like his toughness, and given his polish and big league frame, he could be a quick mover. Hill has the look of a future back-of-the-rotation starter and will likely start 2016 at low Class A Asheville.

Draft Prospects

Hill has been on scouts' radar for several years, ranking No. 188 on the BA500 in 2012 as a senior at El Modena High in Orange County, Calif. He turned down the Phillies as a 17th-round pick and spent a season at Long Beach State before transferring to Orange Coast CC and ranked No. 259 last year on the BA500 before transferring again, this time to San Diego. Hill has pitched with a brother at each stop; older brother Michael was at Long Beach State, while twin Jacob was at OCC and is at San Diego. David Hill presents a similar package as he did the last two seasons but has had good timing to have a strong season in a down year for college pitchers. His velocity has ticked up this season, sitting solid-average at 90-92 mph while hitting 93 and 94 more regularly than in the past. He's effectively wild and has enough life on his fastball that hitters struggle to square him up; opponents where hitting just .173 against him. His hard slurve remains inconsistent but has had its moments and profiles as solid average. He gets a lot of strikeouts with his hard, split-grip changeup, which has some late tumble. Hill profiles at the back of a rotation since neither of his pitches grades as a true plus, but he has a good frame at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds and a track record of results.
Hill was a top-200 prospect out of high school two years ago and made 11 starts as a freshman in 2013 at Long Beach State, where he played alongside older brother Michael. But he transferred to OCC for his sophomore year, where he joined twin brother Jacob in the starting rotation, posting a 1.67 ERA and a 109-16 K-BB mark in 113 innings to earn conference co-pitcher of the year honors with his brother. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound righthander has more arm strength than his lefthanded brother, and he has run his fastball up to 93-94 at times this spring, pitching at 88-92. Sometimes he gets underneath the ball and it flattens out, but he has feel for two promising offspeed pitches. His breaking ball, a hard slurve, has improved since his high school days and has a chance to be average. He also throws a split-change that is a bit firm but still effective. Scouts are divided on which brother they prefer, but the majority seem to lean toward David based on his superior velocity. Like Jacob, David is committed to San Diego.
A strong spring for El Modena helped Hill emerge as something of a pop-up prospect this spring, and he signed with Long Beach State late. He has an athletic 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame and the makings of a good delivery, but sometimes he throws across his body, causing him to pull fastballs into the lefthanded batter's box and his breaking ball to get sweepy. When he stays on line he can be very good, showing a fastball that sits average and bumps 93 mph. His 80-83 mph slider also projects as an average pitch, and he has feel for a changeup that could give him a third average offering in time. Hill could be drafted in the top five rounds.