Nationals select Hill contract, put Robles on IL

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of outfielder Derek Hill from Triple-A Rochester and placed outfielder Victor Robles on the 10-day Injured List with back spasms in the lumbar spine on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Hill, 27, joins the Nationals after hitting .320 with 11 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 31 RBI, 18 walks, 11 stolen bases and 40 runs scored in 52 games between High-A Wilmington and Triple-A Rochester. He appeared in 45 games in center field, four in left field and two in right field.

A non-roster invite to 2023 Spring Training, Hill leads Washington’s system in batting average (.320) and ranks among Nationals Minor Leaguers in slugging percentage (2^nd, .521), OPS (2^nd, .903), runs scored (2^nd, 40), on-base percentage (3^rd, .382), home runs (T4^th, 8) and RBI (T6^th, 31).

Hill hit safely in 19 straight games from May 14 to June 7, going 31-for-78 (.397) with seven doubles, two triples, four homers, 18 RBI, 11 walks and 20 runs scored during the longest active streak in Minor League Baseball at the time. He capped it with four straight multi-hit efforts. 

A native of Des Moines, Iowa and graduate of Elk Grove (Calif.) High School, Hill was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the first round (No. 23) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. During his time in their system, he was cited by Baseball America as being Detroit’s “Best Defensive Outfielder” (2018-21), “Best Athlete” (2018) and “Fastest Baserunner” (2018-19).

Hill has appeared in 95 Major League games across three seasons (2020-22) with the Tigers. He hit .240 with five doubles, three triples, four home runs, 17 RBI, 16 walks, nine stolen bases and 30 runs scored along the way.

Robles, 26, is hitting .299 with five doubles, one triple, eight RBI, 11 walks, eight stolen bases and 15 runs scored in 36 games this season.