Sweat dripped down reliever Tim Hill’s face, under the collar of his Royals jersey and onto his neck.
Hill, 28, had just pitched a perfect ninth inning on a late March afternoon in Scottsdale, Ariz. The side-slinging left-hander the Royals chose to protect from December’s Rule 5 draft retired three Diamondbacks minor-leaguers with the help of ground balls and a five-pitch strikeout. He preserved a tie in the Royals’ penultimate game of the spring.
The appearance, Hill's final audition for a spot on the Royals' 25-man roster, couldn’t have gone more smoothly.
Yet as Hill descended the steps into the visiting dugout, he could not stop the perspiration from collecting at collarbones.