Washington Nationals Player Profile: Taylor Hill

Our non-roster invitees profile series continue by looking at pitcher Taylor Hill, who is trying to have a bounce back season in 2016

Counting the minor league signings of relievers Matt Belisle and Burke Badenhop this week, the Washington Nationals have a total of 13 pitchers in spring training on non-roster deals. One of those players is right-handed pitcher, Taylor Hill. Hill was designated for assignment back in January to make room for Stephen Drew on the 40-man roster.

Last season, Hill did appear in six games for the Nats as a reliever and he had a 3.75 ERA in those games. He spent most of the season at triple-A Syracuse, where he had a rocky season. In 22 games as a starter, the right-hander who will turn 27 on March 12, went 3-10 with a 5.23 ERA and opponents hit .327 against him.

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Hill did have some good moments in the early portion of last season. Back on May 14 against the Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta Braves), he went eight innings, gave up one run on five hits, and struck out four in a win. However, in the second half of the International League season, Hill went 0-6 with a 5.79 ERA in his final nine starts and he gave up four runs or more in four of those nine outings.

The Nationals drafted Hill in the sixth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt University. While Hill was fourth on the Syracuse staff in strikeouts with 70, he was fourth on the staff in walks with 29. In each of the last two seasons, his walk rate is up to three walks per nine innings. As for his strikeout rate, it went up from five K’s per nine in 2014 to 6.8 last season.