Sam Hilliard

Sam Hilliard

29-Year-Old OutfielderOF
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Hilliard's time in Colorado came to an unceremonious end when the team traded him to Atlanta in November in exchange for Dylan Spain. The writing was already on the wall after the Rockies optioned him down for good in late August. Hilliard shaved eight percentage points off his strikeout rate from 2021 (to 28.5%) while increasing his walk rate to a career-high 11.5%, but those improvements did not matter as he struggled to a .184/.280/.264 line. Things got especially ugly on the road, with Hilliard slugging a mere .188 in his 81 plate appearances without the Coors bump. His batted-ball numbers are somewhat confounding as he had a Statcast HardHit% close to 50% but just a .370 xwOBACON. Atlanta will not be looking to make Hilliard a starter, but he will get to make his case for the Opening Day roster as a lefty-swinging, speedy reserve outfielder. As he heads into his age-29 season, Hilliard is now out of minor-league options. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#600
ADP
$Traded to the Braves in November of 2022.
Swats first spring homer
OFAtlanta Braves
March 10, 2023
Hilliard went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Thursday's split-squad game against the Blue Jays.
ANALYSIS
The long ball didn't come until the seventh inning, but the 29-year-old took Erik Swanson deep to right-center field for his first spring homer. Hilliard failed to make much impact over four seasons with Colorado, but he appears likely to begin 2023 in a bench role for Atlanta.
Read More News
Batting Stats
Loading Batting Stats...
2022
2021
2020
2019
2022 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
2021 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
2020 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
2019 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
Minor League Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Batting Game Log...
Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
22
19
6
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+9%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
+53%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+15%
OPS vs LHP
2020
 
 
+70%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020vs Left .636 117 11 6 13 0 .204 .256 .380
Since 2020vs Right .694 420 59 16 45 13 .208 .298 .396
2022vs Left .376 31 5 1 3 0 .107 .161 .214
2022vs Right .576 169 21 1 11 5 .199 .302 .274
2021vs Left .843 57 4 4 8 0 .255 .333 .510
2021vs Right .730 181 28 10 26 5 .202 .282 .448
2020vs Left .517 29 2 1 2 0 .207 .207 .310
2020vs Right .877 70 10 5 8 3 .242 .329 .548
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+12%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+36%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
2020
 
 
+8%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020Home .723 271 41 9 33 5 .237 .306 .416
Since 2020Away .646 263 29 13 25 8 .177 .274 .372
2022Home .608 119 21 2 11 3 .210 .294 .314
2022Away .448 81 5 0 3 2 .145 .259 .188
2021Home .803 114 15 6 18 1 .238 .298 .505
2021Away .712 124 17 8 16 4 .193 .290 .422
2020Home .826 38 5 1 4 1 .314 .368 .457
2020Away .768 58 7 5 6 2 .189 .259 .509
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Sam Hilliard compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.40
 
BB Rate
11.5%
 
K Rate
28.5%
 
BABIP
.256
 
ISO
.080
 
AVG
.184
 
OBP
.280
 
SLG
.264
 
OPS
.544
 
wOBA
.253
 
Exit Velocity
92.0 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
35.3%
 
Barrels/PA
5.5%
 
Expected BA
.216
 
Expected SLG
.361
 
Sprint Speed
23.8 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
44.5%
 
Line Drive %
18.5%
 
Fly Ball %
37.0%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
Loading Advanced Batting Stats...
Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
Loading Games Played by Position...
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Batted Ball Stats
Loading Batted Ball Stats...
Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2017
Although Hilliard spent just over two months in the minors during the 2021 campaign, he appeared in 81 games and hit a career-high 14 home runs. The outfielder had a career-low 33.1% hard-hit rate, and he also had trouble making contact, as his 67.4 Z-Contact% was the lowest mark of his career. Hilliard was unable to maintain a consistent role -- or roster spot -- for the struggling Rockies in 2021, and he has limited contact and power potential. Even while playing his home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, he's a lackluster fantasy option outside of deeper leagues.
Hilliard had the chance to receive more consistent at-bats during the abbreviated 2020 season after Ian Desmond opted out, but he regressed as a full-time member of the Rockies. He flashed his power during a cup of coffee in 2019 with seven home runs over 27 games, but he only hit six over 36 contests in 2020. Hilliard had an elite .377 ISO in 2019, but the mark dropped to .229 last season. His strikeout numbers were way up (36.8%), and part of his struggles can be traced to his increased 17.1% swinging-strike rate. When he was able to put the ball in play, his results remained relatively steady from a year ago, as he posted a .281 BABIP. The shine has come all the way off, yet Hilliard still has a reasonable path to playing time in his age-27 season to go with power, speed and home games in Coors Field. He is a fine flier but shouldn't be targeted aggressively.
Hilliard's age (turns 26 in February) is misleading for a player who didn't reach the majors until late last season. A former pitcher, he didn't move to the outfield until 2015 at Wichita State, so he is relatively new to this. His age, 29.3 K% and the hitting environment of the Pacific Coast League led many to discount a 35-homer/22-steal campaign at Triple-A, but he was even better in his cup of coffee (138 wRC+, .377 ISO, 26.4 K%). His most impressive feat was a game-tying opposite-field home run off fellow southpaw Josh Hader. Per Statcast, he had the same sprint speed (29.1 ft/sec) as Scott Kingery, so he has the potential to steal double-digit bases in a full season. With the speed for center and the arm for right, Hilliard provides Colorado with defensive versatility and offensive upside. He may get jerked around early in the year but has a chance to settle in as a Rockies regular for years to come.
Hilliard has made quite an impression in his first two professional seasons with the Rockies. Drafted in the 15th round of the 2015 draft out of Wichita State, the left-handed outfielder possesses a powerful frame at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds. In his one season of rookie ball, Hilliard slashed .306/.397/.532 in 262 plate appearances. He displayed good patience at the plate and finished his first season with a 13.7 percent walk rate. In his second minor league season, this time with Low-A Asheville, the 22-year-old hit .267/.348/.449, belted 17 home runs and stole 30 bases in 527 plate appearances. Those numbers should be slightly discounted, given the favorable hitting conditions at Asheville (.832 home OPS, .761 road OPS) and the fact that at 22 he was slightly older than league average. His combination of power and speed make him an intriguing prospect, but he's still got some kinks to work out in his game. Despite walking at a solid clip, he will need to cut down on his strikeouts as he posted a 28.5 percent strikeout rate at Asheville.
More Fantasy News
Dealt to Atlanta
OFAtlanta Braves
November 6, 2022
Hilliard was traded from Colorado to Atlanta in exchange for Dylan Spain on Sunday.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Heads to Triple-A
OFColorado Rockies
August 30, 2022
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Swipes fifth bag
OFColorado Rockies
August 28, 2022
Hilliard went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Sunday's victory over the Mets.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Still not starting
OFColorado Rockies
August 27, 2022
Hilliard isn't in the lineup Saturday against the Mets, Patrick Lyons of TheDNVR.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Sitting again Friday
OFColorado Rockies
August 26, 2022
Hilliard will sit Friday versus the Mets.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.