Former Wild Things outfielder promoted to major leagues
Outfielder Turner Hill became the 10th former Washington Wild Things player — and the first position player — to get promoted to the major leagues as the San Francisco Giants have purchased his contract from Class AAA Sacramento.
Hill was on the Wild Things during spring training in 2023 and played in several exhibition games. Before the Frontier League season began, Hill had his contract purchased by the Giants.
Before coming to Washington, Hill had accomplished something very few players do at any level of baseball – he won three batting titles. He was the batting champion in the Ohio Athletic Conference in both 2021 and 2022 while at Marietta College. He had an amazing .441 batting average over the two seasons. He then led the 2022 MLB Draft League in hitting with a .391 average while playing for the league champion West Virginia Black Bears.
Hill played in several exhibition games for Washington in 2023. In a game against Florence, he went 2-for-3 with a triple, single, walk, stolen base and three runs.
“I think the problem for me was that I don’t consistently hit for power,” Hill told the O-R in 2023. “I’m good at getting on base but the home run numbers need to go up.”
Hill was called up to the major leagues while having hit safely in his last 26 games for Class AAA Sacramento. The streak broke a franchise record that had stood for 19 years. Between Sacramento and Class AA Richmond, Hill is batting .352 this year with nine home runs and 24 stolen bases.
He will be the second former Wild Things player to make the major leagues with the Giants, joining pitcher Spencer Bivens, who was Hill’s teammate this year at Sacramento.
The other eight former Wild Things players to make the major leagues and the years they played in Washington: pitchers Vidal Nuno (2011), Tom Cochran (2006-07), Chris Smith (2011-12), Zac Grotz (2016), Austin Kitchen (2020), James Meeker (2018-21), Isaac Mattson (2022) and Alex Carrillo (2024).
The Wild Things continued their six-game series at Mississippi on Friday night. The game ended too late to be included in this edition.