Hill Receives Spring Training Invitation
1/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 20, 2009
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Former Lumberjack Steven Hill has received a non-roster invitation to Spring Training from the St. Louis Cardinals and will report to Jupiter, Fla., for camp on Feb. 13.
"It's definitely a good thing for me to get invited this quickly," Hill said. "They told me it was a possibility after the way I last year, but it's still a great opportunity for me to get out there with all of the guys and show what I can do."
Hill says only approximately 20 players in the Cardinals farm system will receive non-roster invitations out of the approximately 75-80 total players that will be in Jupiter.
Hill was selected by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the 2007 MLB Draft after hitting .387 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI as a senior for the 'Jacks, leading them to 31 wins and being named both SLC Player and Hitter of the Year.
He started off his pro career in the New York-Penn League where he only spent 10 days before being promoted to Class A Quad Cities where he continued to shine and finished out 2007. After that he started off the 2008 season at Class A Palm Beach before moving up again, this time making the jump to Class AA Springfield of the Texas League where he promptly smashed a home run in his first game.
There Hill hit .303 with five home runs in 26 games before being sidelined with a broken hand. For the season he finished with a .285 batting average, 17 home runs and 48 RBI between Springfield, Palm Beach and rookie ball.
He expects to begin the 2009 season in Springfield working primarily as a catcher. Hill is one of two former Lumberjacks in the Cardinals farm system as pitcher Kevin Thomas was selected in the 32nd round of the 2008 draft and finished last season at Class A Johnson City.
-SFA-
