Sam Hilliard, named on Monday to the All-Pacific Coast League team after crushing 35 home runs and driving in 101 runs, will make his Major League debut in center field for the Colorado Rockies against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night at Coors Field.
The 25-year-old Hilliard was playing for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes at home in Las Vegas when he popped out to left as part of an 0-for-3 day. The at-bat may have seemed meaningless, but Isotopes manager Glenallen Hill was scheming a plan to break some big news to him.