Brett Pill

Brett Michael Pill

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 215 lb.
• School Cal State Fullerton
• High School Covina High School
• Debut September 6, 2011
• Final Game September 28, 2013
• Born September 9, 1984 in San Dimas, CA USA

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Biographical information

Brett Pill is a first baseman who played for the San Francisco Giants. He is the brother of Tyler Pill and son of Michael Pill.

High School Career

Pill hit .386 as a high school sophomore and .416 as a junior, when he also had a 3.28 ERA. As a senior, he was 6-1 with a 2.54 ERA and hit .421 with six homers in 24 games. He helped his team win their league and was named Co-MVP of the Valley Vista League.

College career

Pill was a redshirt freshman for Cal State Fullerton in 2003. In his first year of college, 2004, Pill played in 50 games but had only 80 at-bats, hitting .313 with two home runs and 17 RBI. In the finale of the 2004 College World Series, he had a crucial pinch-hit triple to help Fullerton take the title.

In 2005, he hit .327 with nine home runs and 57 RBI, leading the Big West Conference with 85 hits. He also was second in the Conference in both runs (55) and RBI.

As a redshirt junior in 2006, he hit .328 with five home runs and 40 RBI. He led the BWC with 23 doubles and was named All-Conference at first base.

Draft

Pill was drafted twice. In 2005, he was drafted in the 45th round (1,362nd overall) by the New York Yankees; however he did not sign. He was drafted in the seventh round (206th overall) of the 2006 amateur draft by the San Francisco Giants. He was signed by scout Ray Krawczyk and made his pro debut that summer.

Minor League career

Pill began his professional career in 2006, playing for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. That season, he hit .220/.296/.359 with five home runs and 35 RBI in 60 games. He did lead the Northwest League in both assists by a first baseman (46) and fielding percentage at the position (.995).

In 2007, he played for the Augusta Greenjackets, hitting .269/.321/.416 with a South Atlantic League-leading 47 doubles as well as ten home runs and 91 RBI in 137 games. He led all Giants farmhands in two-baggers and tied Jed Lowrie and Christian Colonel for 4th in the affiliated minors in that department. He also tied Adrian Cardenas for the SAL lead in double plays ground into (17) and led the loop's first basemen in putouts (1,197) and double plays (103).

With the San Jose Giants in 2008, Pill hit .266/.321/.395 with nine home runs and 65 RBI in 131 games. He then hit .298/.348/.480 with 37 doubles, 19 home runs (as many as his prior two seasons combined) and 109 RBI in 139 games for the Connecticut Defenders in 2009. He was named the Eastern League's All-Star first baseman and finished among the EL leaders in average (6th), slugging (4th), RBI (1st, 12 ahead of runner-up Carlos Santana) and doubles (3rd).

He was added to the Giants' 40-man roster after the 2009 season, but spent all of 2010 in the minor leagues, hitting .275 in 140 games for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies; he had 16 homers and 84 RBI that year. Back in Fresno in 2011, he improved to .312 in 133 games, with 36 doubles, 25 homers and 107 RBI, and he finally got the call to The Show.

Major League Career

Brett Pill was called up to San Francisco on August 31, 2011, just in time to be added to the postseason roster, although that was in doubt as the Giants were trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks by 6 games at the time. His recall was part of a series of moves by the team, as they designated for assignment veterans Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada while activating Pat Burrell from the disabled list and calling up Pill. The moves were aimed at waking up a slumbering offense and gearing up for a run to return to the postseason. He made his debut on September 6th against the San Diego Padres and immediately made his presence felt, hitting a two-run homer off Wade LeBlanc in his first major league at-bat.

Korean League Career

Pill was released by the Giants in early 2014 and went on to play three successful seasons with the Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization. Pill returned to the U.S. in 2017 and signed with the Detroit Tigers, but retired before the regular season began.

Post Playing Career

Pill worked as an international scout for the Kia Tigers from 2017-2019. He joined the Los Angeles Dodgers player development system in 2020 and was scheduled to be the Tulsa Drillers hitting coach before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Pill did coach Tulsa in 2021-2022.

Notable Achievements

• Won a World Series with the San Francisco Giants in 2012 (he did not play in the World Series)

Related Sites

• Brett Pill on mlb.com
• Cal-State Fullerton bio