A team that wins 104 games in a season needs players to step up. Sam Hilliard did that early in 2023 for the Braves.
Hilliard was one of AA’s first grabs of the 2022 off-season. Some believed Hilliard might be one of those players the Braves could grab off the scrap-heap and get right. When Michael Harris II was sidelined early in the season with injury, Hilliard got his chance.
Taking advantage
The former Rockie played great defense when he played, and looked damn good in April. In 19 games, the lefty slashed .296/.367/.904 in 54 at-bats. He homered three times and had six RBI, as well. Hilliard’s best day as a pro was in an 11-0 win over the Marlins, going 2-for-4 with two HRs.
Interestingly, Hilliard never seemed to gain the interest of Brian Snitker. Snit kept running Eddie Rosario and Marcell OHzuna out there despite their struggle.Hilliard had just 18 at-bats the rest of the season. The 29 year-old was injured July 18 and never returned to Atlanta.
Hilliard hit 1-for-his-last-18 and finished the year at .236/.295.431. The Braves waived him this fall and Baltimore claimed him off waivers. Braves Country wishes Sam Hilliard well with the Birds.
My all-time favorite ballplayer called it quits. Thank you, Andrelton. You were the best shortstop I ever saw.
My favorite this century for sure.
The greatest there ever was.
https://bravesjournal.com/category/which-andrelton-simmons-catch-was-better/
The YouTube video Andrelton Simmons – Defensive Highlights – 2013 is twenty-five minutes long. Twenty-five minutes.
Enjoy.
IIRC Hilliard had a really high strikeout percentage even when he was hot.
As time goes on, I am becoming more convinced of what I suspected after the Lopez signing and rumors he would start. AA would like to have an ace starter, but he’s not going to overpay for one, and he sees the market inefficiency in the relative price of reliever to starter. As Rob Copenhaver has been harping on, paying a lot for a deep starting rotation is a good way to win 100 games, but it’s not necessarily the best way to win in the playoffs. Our bullpen is already deep, but I won’t be surprised to see AA make his big splash with another relief arm. You don’t need Lopez to pitch 6 innings if you have an 8-deep bullpen full of flame throwers. The impact that a Josh Hader could make in a playoff series is greater than a #3 starter who could pitch 6 innings to a 4.5 ERA. We also have a couple of TJ wildcards in Ynoa and Anderson who could add some depth.
It’s sort of like the DePodesta character in Moneyball who said you don’t need to buy players–you need to buy runs. We don’t need to buy a great pitcher as much as we need to buy innings of run prevention. Three relievers signed for a collective $25 million can get you 210 innings of sub-3 ERA. Try getting that from a starter for the same price.