DENVER – The Rockies’ dream of avoiding suffering their 12th sweep of the season and fourth at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon had largely been reduced to rubble when Sam Hilliard found a way to shine.
Hilliard’s fifth-inning double was the first hit for the Rockies, who already trailed by eight runs and would lose, 13-5. At 12-53, the Rockies are tied with the 1932 Red Sox for the worst 65-game start in the Modern Era (since 1900).
Given the start and the fact they’d have to go 51-46 to avoid their third straight 100-loss season, this year is about finding out which players they should hold onto in their effort to correct this pattern. And Hilliard, who has been discarded three times by the Rockies, is again making his case to have a chance, however future teams are structured.
Hilliard, 31, had two doubles and a triple in the three games against the Mets, and has batted .368 (7-for-19) in eight games since being selected from Triple-A Albuquerque on May 30.
“He’s earning himself a role every day that he continues to produce,” said manager Warren Schaeffer, who was Hilliard’s manager in the Minors. “He looks comfortable in the box. To me, he looks aggressive. He looks like the Sam Hilliard I know from old.”
The Rockies are mostly a club looking at younger players to see where they fit. At 31, Hilliard is on the long side of that group. However, after years of fighting for his Major League footing, he’s developing into a solid, left-handed-hitting outfield role player.
“I’m feeling pretty comfortable right now,” Hilliard said. “Having Schaeff at the head helps. He’s always been the guy that’s been there for me. I can talk to him about anything. I really enjoy playing for him.”
Hilliard debuted in the Majors in 2019 with some big swings but high strikeout numbers. The Rockies traded him to the Braves, where he endured an injury-shortened 2023 before being traded to the Orioles after the season.
The Rockies claimed him off waivers last Spring Training but designated him for assignment before Opening Day. But he earned a new chance by hitting .288 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs at Triple-A Albuquerque, and his .812 OPS with 10 homers in 58 games with the Rockies led the team to sign him to a $1 million contract for this season to avoid arbitration.
Strangely, the process repeated itself this year.
Spooked by Hilliard’s awful Spring Training (7-for-51 with 27 strikeouts), the Rockies DFA’d him again, instead keeping veteran journeyman outfielder Nick Martini. The Rockies, then managed by Bud Black, ultimately decided that they wanted players trending well heading into the season.
Hilliard returned to Albuquerque. Being paid his full Major League salary (as was the case last year, when he earned $800,000), he remained productive. In 40 games, he matched 2024’s .288 with 14 homers. He broke the Isotopes career home run record in May 2024, and extended his record to 82 homers in 321 games with them this year.
Under Schaeffer, the Rockies have pointed their sights to the future -- one they felt Hilliard had a better chance to be a part of than Martini, who was outrighted off the roster on June 2.
Last year, and the start to his Major League run this year, indicate he has a future as a platoon player, which leads to an interesting question: Should a poor Spring Training performance determine his roster spot?
Since 2017 -- the first year he appeared in 10 Spring Training games -- he has batted .211 or lower five times. But he is above average at all three outfield positions including center field, where he started on Sunday as offensively struggling Brenton Doyle sat. Hilliard’s adjusted approach has proven competitive in the regular season.
“If you’re not an established big league baseball player, Spring Training is stressful because you never know if what you’ve done is enough,” Hilliard said. “If you’re having a bad camp, it’s, ‘Am I going to make the team?’ To have that in the rearview mirror, it was nice to get to Albuquerque and play with nothing to lose. That was the reality of my situation.”
Hilliard said the Rockies addressed reality after two lopsided losses to the Mets. Although the losses remained frequent, the club had been involved almost fully in tight games for two weeks.
“We already spoke as a team,” he said. “We’re going to flush it. We’ll take the [Monday] off-day to reset, get back on the train where we were playing with energy, playing loose.”