Hilliard (heel) signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Orioles on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Hilliard was claimed off waivers from Atlanta on Nov. 1 and is now locked into a guaranteed salary with the O's for the 2024 campaign. The 29-year-old currently projects to serve as a fourth outfielder and bench bat in Baltimore.
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Orioles' Sam Hilliard: Claimed by Baltimore
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Baltimore claimed Hilliard (heel) off waivers from Atlanta on Wednesday.
Hilliard missed the final couple months of the 2023 season due to a nagging heel contusion, but that injury should be fully in the rearview by the start of spring training in 2024. The 29-year-old outfielder holds a career .718 OPS in 717 plate appearances at the major-league level and has always put up intriguing numbers at Triple-A.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Shifted to 60-day IL
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Hilliard (heel) was transferred to the 60-day injured list Friday, Grant McAuley of 92.9 The Game reports.
The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for Dylan Lee's return from the 60-day IL. Hilliard will be eligible for activation in late September, but he's without a timeline for his return after having a setback with his right heel last month.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Re-injures right heel
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Hilliard returned from his rehab assignment, but he re-injured his right heel and remains on the injured list, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Hilliard was placed on the 10-day injured list July 19 and began his rehab assignment Aug. 2 with Triple-A Gwinnett. The outfielder has not been seeing much playing time when healthy, primarily serving as a defensive replacement.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Begins rehab assignment
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Hilliard (heel) will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Gwinnett.
Sidelined since July 18 with a heel contusion, Hilliard's playing time had run dry anyway, as his last hit came on May 5, and he had logged just eight at-bats while appearing in 16 games, primarily as a defensive replacement, since then. Once healthy, Hilliard should resume his small supporting role.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Goes on IL with heel bruise
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Atlanta placed Hilliard on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a right heel contusion.
Hilliard picked up a rare start in Tuesday's 16-13 loss to the Diamondbacks but grounded out in his lone plate appearance before being lifted from the game ahead of the fourth inning. The heel injury presumably prompted Hilliard's early removal and will now keep him out of commission until at least July 29. With Hilliard on the shelf, Atlanta is left with Kevin Pillar and Forrest Wall as its primary reserve options in the outfield.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Gets rare start Sunday
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Hilliard went 0-for-2 in Sunday's loss to the White Sox.
Getting the start in left field and batting ninth with Eddie Rosario (hamstring) unavailable, Hilliard saw multiple plate appearances in a game for the first time since May 23. The 29-year-old's .239/.299/.437 slash line and 42.9 percent strikeout rate on the season don't make a compelling case for more playing time, but if Rosario ends up needing an IL stint, Hilliard figures to handle the strong side of a platoon in left with Kevin Pillar.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Loses hold of regular role
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Hilliard remains out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles.
The lefty-hitting Hilliard is on the bench for the sixth time in seven games, with four of those absences coming against right-handed pitching. The return of Michael Harris from the injured list coupled with Marcell Ozuna's recent surge at the plate appears to have resulted in Hilliard moving out of a strong-side platoon role, and the impending return of Travis d'Arnaud (concussion) from the IL will only further complicate matters.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: On bench for matinee
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Hilliard is not in the starting lineup for Game 1 of Monday's doubleheader with the Mets.
With Michael Harris returning from the injured list Friday, Hilliard no longer looks like he has a path to regular playing time in center field, but the 28-year-old was still expected to contend for reps in left field. Instead, the righty-hitting Kevin Pillar has started both of the first two games in left field since Harris' return, with Atlanta facing a lefty (David Peterson) and righty (Denyi Reyes) in those contests. Since Hilliard is a left-handed hitter, he would make sense as a strong-side platoon option in left field, but Atlanta manager Brian Snitker appears to be favoring Pillar for now, perhaps in large part to the superior defense Pillar provides at the position.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Sitting in Harris' return
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Hilliard isn't in Atlanta's lineup for Friday's game against the Mets.
With Michael Harris (back) returning to action, Hilliard no longer has a clear path to playing time in center field. The 29-year-old has hit well enough this season to be more than a bench player though, and he could form a platoon in left field with Kevin Pillar, who will bat eighth Friday against left-hander David Peterson.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Absent from lineup
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Hilliard is not in Atlanta's lineup for Thursday's game against the Marlins.
The left-handed hitting Hilliard is taking a seat against Miami southpaw Braxton Garrett. Kevin Pillar is in center field and Eddie Rosario is in left Thursday for Atlanta.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Possible waiver wire pickups
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It's not surprising Sam Hilliard is rostered in only 5 percent of CBS Sports leagues given that he's viewed as just a fill-in for the injured Michael Harris -- and a part-time one at that. But he's also clobbered the ball, his exit velocities ranking among the top 10 percent in baseball. He's a premium athlete, too, and after seeing him deliver two home runs along with a stolen base Monday, I was reminded of how he had 42 homers and 24 steals between the majors and minors for the Rockies in 2019. And guess what? With Marcell Ozuna continuing to do Marcell Ozuna things, there's room for Hilliard to continue as the better half of a platoon even after Acuna returns. Of course, his strikeout rate could derail it all still, which is why he remains more of a deeper league pickup.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Hits two homers, steals base in win
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Hilliard went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, a solo home run and one steal in Monday's 11-0 victory over Miami.
Hilliard gave the Braves a 3-0 lead in the fourth with a two-run blast and extended the advantage to 6-0 in the sixth with a solo shot. He also stole his fourth bag of the season after reaching on a fielder's choice in the second. Through 17 appearances (51 plate appearances), Hilliard is slashing .333/.412/.622, but he's struck out 20 times while drawing just six walks.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Swipes third bag
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Hilliard went 2-for-3 with a stolen base in Wednesday's loss to the Padres.
The 29-year-old continues to fill in admirably for Michael Harris (back). Since Harris landed on IL, Hilliard has started eight of 12 games on the strong side of a platoon with Eli White and gone 11-for-28 (.393) with three doubles, a homer, two RBI, seven runs and two of his three steals on the season. He's also struck out 13 times during that stretch, however, making his ability to sustain his success at the plate questionable at best.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Out of lineup against lefty
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Hilliard is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Padres.
Similar to Monday's lineup versus lefty Ryan Weathers, Eli White will get the start in center field for Atlanta with southpaw Blake Snell set to toe the rubber at Petco Park. Kevin Pillar is playing left field.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Takes seat versus lefty
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Hilliard is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Padres.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker will roll out an all righty-hitting outfield to counter Padres southpaw Ryan Weathers. Hilliard and fellow lefty hitter Eddie Rosario will hit the bench while Kevin Pillar, Eli White and Ronald Acuna fill out the outfield from left to right.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Slugs first Atlanta homer
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Hilliard went 1-for-2 with two walks, a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's win over the Royals.
He took Brady Singer deep in the second inning for his first homer in an Atlanta jersey. Hilliard is batting .348 (8-for-23) over the last eight games with three doubles, four walks, one homer, one steal, two RBI and five runs, but Michael Harris (back) could bump Hilliard back to the bench when the former is activated from the injured list.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Steals second bag
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Hilliard went 0-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base in Wednesday's win over the Reds.
The 29-year-old is taking advantage of Michael Harris' absence due to a back injury, going 6-for-17 (.353) while starting five of the last six games with three doubles, three runs, an RBI and Wednesday's steal, his second of the season. Hilliard has also struck out nine times during that stretch though, and with Harris potentially back from the injured list Monday, his run of fantasy usefulness figures to be fleeting.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Bangs out two doubles
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Hilliard went 2-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, a run scored and an RBI in Tuesday's win over the Reds.
Starting in center field and batting ninth, Hilliard put Atlanta in the lead for good with an RBI two-bagger in the fourth inning. Hilliard has started four of five games since Michael Harris (back) landed on the IL, going 6-for-15 with three doubles, an RBI and two runs.
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Braves' Sam Hilliard: Heads to bench Monday
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Hilliard is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.
Following Michael Harris' (back) placement on the injured list Friday, Hilliard picked up three straight starts in center field to close out Atlanta's weekend series versus San Diego, going a collective 4-for-11 with a double, a run and seven strikeouts. Though the high strikeout rate is a concern for Hilliard moving forward, he should still be locked in as Atlanta's preferred option in center field for the time being while Harris is on the shelf. Eli White will get a look in center in the series opener with the Reds, however.
