GJ Hill

Glenallen Hill

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lbs.
• High School Santa Cruz High School

• Born September 30, 2000 in Santa Cruz, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

GJ Hill is the son of former Major Leaguer Glenallen Hill - "GJ" stands for "Glenallen Junior." While Glenallen Senior was a hulking outfielder with longball power and defensive woes, Junior is a diminutive, switch-hitting middle infielder. He was drafted out of high school by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 4th round of the 2019 Amateur Draft. Assigned to the rookie league AZL Diamondbacks, he was not impressive in his pro debut, slashing just .206/.289/.363. Though he did display some extra base punch and a decent eye for drawing walks, he struck out in an alarming 36.4% of his at bats. He did steal an impressive 19 bases, though.

During the 2020 season which was wiped out because of the COVID-19 epidemic, he played in the City of Champions Cup for the Chicago Deep Dish; the manager of that team was his father, Glenallen Hill. He was one of three players to lead the league in games played (27), but his slash line was a mixed bag - .181/.319/.287, which indicated poor contact ability, but very good patience. He swiped 12 bases, walked 18 times, but his strikeout rate remained pretty high at 34.0%.

With the minor leagues back in operation in 2021, but having been restructured, he was at the A level with the Visalia Rawhide of the California League. In 101 games, his slash line did improve from where he left off in 2019 at the rookie league level, but only to .212/.302/.340. He was still stealing bases (31 of them against only 3 caught stealings), he was still drawing walks (38, along with 10 hit by pitches), and he was still displaying impressive extra base sock for a man his size (20 doubles, 3 triples, and 7 home runs in 368 at bats), but his strikeout rate went up to a ghastly 45.7% - unspeakably bad.

He began 2022 back with Visalia and regressed. After 37 games, his batting average was just .149 and he had struck out in exactly half of his at bats. While his eye for bases on balls remained good, and 5 of his 17 hits went for extra bases, it was becoming clear he was no longer in the Diamondbacks' long-term plans and he was demoted to the Arizona Complex League on June 11. He played only one game there, and was released on June 15. He signed on with the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League for the remainder of the season, but only saw action in three games.

He spent the entirety of the 2023 season back with Joliet, and enjoyed his best season to date. A .262/.362/.532 slash line was a marked improvement from his numbers in organized ball. He hit 13 doubles and 15 home runs in 248 at bats, but he was still striking out at a very high clip (37.1%).

Still, the Colorado Rockies saw something in him that they liked, and signed him to a minor league contract on March 19, 2024. He began the season at the A level with the Fresno Grizzlies, splitting time between second base and the outfield; this was second go around in the California League. In 34 games, not only did he reduce his strikeout rate to a much more manageable 28%, but he slashed .248/.351/.448., drawing 17 walks and getting hit with 4 pitches in 149 plate appearances. On June 19 - almost two years to the day after being released by the D-Backs organization - he was promoted to Advanced-A for the first time in his career. He collected hits in his first seven games with the Northwest League's Spokane Indians, slashing .310/.370/.542 the remainder of June. He had three-hit games on June 23 and June 25, after which his batting average was an even .500. He struggled through July, hitting .225, but picked it up in August, where he slashed .297/.348/.703. He hit 7 home runs in August, and through September 1 12 total against NWL pitching - 10 of those coming at hitter-friendly Avista Stadium On September 1 against the Tri-City Dust Devils, he hit an 8th-inning home run off of reliever Nick Mondak. Not only was it the only hit Spokane would have that day, it was the only run of the ballgame, which gave the Indians a 1-0 win in their regular season home finale - the ballgame lasted 2 hours and 4 minutes. He finished the Northwest League season at .282/.364/.589. His 14 home runs were good for a tie of 3rd place in the NWL with Everett's Caleb Cali and Vancouver's Jace Bohrofen, despite accumulating fewer than half the at bats of either of those men; GJ had 163 at bats, which means he hit a home run every 11.64 at bats! This production earned him a promotion to the AA Hartford Yard Goats on September 17, a few days after the Indians won the Northwest League Championship Series.