Hillman Looking For Endurance In First Full Year

GLENDALE, Ariz.—At 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, Juan Hillman is in fine shape for an 18-year-old who last year was finishing his senior year of high school.

When he looks over at his roommate and longtime friend Triston McKenzie, however, he seems like the big one. That’s because McKenzie, a toothpick with a low-90s fastball whom the Indians drafted with their supplemental first-round pick in 2015, stands at a gaunt 6-foot-5 and 165 pounds.

So while Hillman is busy cutting out fast food in favor of salads and fruit, he also has to watch as McKenzie chows down on steak and potatoes an estimated three nights a week.

“Last year, I was starting to break down a little bit,” Hillman said. “Coming from high school to pro ball, I started to break down … my body was just drained. This year I’m feeling good, feeling like I’m in a good spot.”

McKenzie ranks as the Indians’ No. 9 prospect, and Hillman checks in two spots later at No. 11. The pair has been friends since high school, when they were both dominating the opposition in the Orland0, Fla., area.

Hillman pitched two innings against the Dodgers’ low Class A work group on Friday and used the opportunity to work on sharpening the command that he says escaped him last season.

“Today, I felt pretty good about (my command) as well,” he said, “I was locating, getting it in on righties and controlling the running game, feeling great about everything.”

During his outing, his fastball sat between 89-90 with good sink, especially in on lefthanders. He also mixed in four changeups in the low-80s and used a curveball to whiff Dodgers prospect Mitch Hansen to end the third inning.

He worked hard on command, particularly when it came to getting it on hitters, this offseason.

“I was working on just throwing it in, challenging hitters to pull the ball and throwing it under the hands,” he said. “Last year, my first year of pro ball, I had like no command of throwing it in to a righty or a lefty. This offseason, my main focus was to get that done. It’s been going good so far—hopefully I keep it up.”

He had a good tutor, too: former all-star reliever Tom Gordon, who has been Hillman’s legal guardian since he transferred to Orlando’s Olympia HS after his freshman year.

Hillman and Gordon had been close throughout Hillman’s life, to the point where Gordon becoming his guardian was more of a formalized godfather’s role.

“Mr. Gordon, when I throw my bullpens, he’ll exaggerate the inside of the plate,” Hillman explained. “He’ll go maybe 4 or 5 inches more in just to focus on hitting the glove, hitting the glove, hitting the glove and having a batter up there and trying to throw it right on the black.”

Gordon, also the father of Twins shortstop prospect Nick Gordon, has helped mold Hillman as both a player and a person.

“He’s had a major influence,” Hillman said.”Not just baseball-related—he’s helped there as well, but he’s made me a better player for sure and made me more accountable and responsible for my actions, things like that. He just made me a better man, honestly.”

Hillman is likely to start the year in low Class A Lake County, where he’ll team with McKenzie to form prospect-packed 1-2 punch in the Captains’ rotation.

“Just staying within myself the whole year,” Hillman said when asked what he wanted to get out of his first full pro season. “I don’t think about stats and things like that, just cancel everything out and focus on baseball and the task at hand.”

BACK FIELDS FILES

Righthander Angel German started for the low Class A Dodgers group and showed off a big fastball and a whippy arm, but little else on this afternoon. The 19-year-old’s fastball sat between 93-95 for most of the early portion of his outing before suddenly dropping 89-90 for a few pitches.

The fastball featured excellent movement in on lefthanders, but he failed to command much of anything. He also showed a mid-80s slider that showed promise but lacked consistency. There were a couple of changeups in the mix as well, but the pitch is still well in development.

Indians center field prospect Gabriel Mejia, who stole 40 bases in 59 games last season between the Rookie-level Arizona League and short-season New York-Penn League, made it from home to first in 3.91 seconds on an infield hit.

Outfielder Junior Soto, whom the Indians signed for $600,000 on July 2, 2013, hit a long home run to left field. He’s hit just two longballs since signing however, one apiece in each of the last two seasons.