Spring Recap: Aaron Hill makes spring debut; Blue Jays fall to Phillies 5-4

Finally, with just over a week left before the Blue Jays’ season opener, the team fielded what you’d call the projected opening day lineup in spring training today against Cliff Lee and the Philadelphia Phillies. Most importantly, this meant the return of second-baseman Aaron Hill, who had been out with a quad injury, and hadn’t played in a game this spring up to this point. The Blue Jays ended up losing the game 5-4, and Hill went 0-for-3 in the process. Slotted in the lineup behind Adam Lind, Hill probably would have liked to come out of the gate swinging, but it wasn’t exactly a poor outing – the big test for Hill was on the field and his ability to make plays at full speed, and he managed well on that front, looking pretty much in game shape on plays; this being said, one of the big tests that the Jays wanted for his quad was his ability to run on the bases, and he didn’t really get much of a chance to do that today. The Jays will continue to ...