Baseball Prospectus | | Eyewitness Scouting Report


	Sam Hilliard Born: 02/21/1994 (Age: 23)
	Bats: Left	Throws: Left
	Height: 6' 5"	Weight: 236
	Primary Position: RF
	Secondary Position: LF

Tall, moderate width and athleticism, slow and smooth physicality, everything's at a pace; deceptive strength, wiry muscle, the opposite of a quick-twitch athlete, but understands his body and how to make it move efficiently

Evaluator	Wilson Karaman
Report Date	06/17/2017
Dates Seen	7x April-June 2017
Affiliate	Lancaster JetHawks (High A, Astros)

MLB ETA	Risk Factor	OFP	Video
2019	Moderate	45	Yes

Tool	Future Grade	Report
Hit	40	Mild load; little stiff on the back leg, rolls on front toe for timing, limited weight transfer, fairly upright at launch; top hand-heavy swing, generally flat plane, gets the swing on line early, long through the zone; ability to adjust in-swing, extend, and drag barrel to balls away, will generate some oppo carry; line-drive contact, fringy barrel control, average bat speed; shows vulnerability to inner-third, elevated velo, stays on RH spin pretty well, struggles L-on-L; patient hitter, can get passive, works deep counts, strikeouts will be on higher side
Power	50	Top-spin line-drives, slices under balls, loft power to RCF, adept at backspinning fly balls up into the Lancaster winds; can push a couple out to left, power to carry balls over LF; will drop the barrel down and in, can go down and lift off-speed when sitting; 55 raw with natural strength
Baserunning/Speed	50	Significant variance home-to-first, settles around 4.2; efficient runner, shows some second gear down the line; raw in-play reads on the bases, solid base-stealing instincts, gets good jumps, effective slides; above-average speed at present, good bet to lose a step sooner than later, acumen to produce solid-average run value
Glove	50	Reads can be a little off, will take a beat to set his route, average track-and-close, good body control laying out, adjusts routes well in wind, fundamental fielder, sound corner defender
Arm	55	Plus arm strength, long gather, not the quickest release, accuracy can wander

A former 14th-rounder, Hilliard boasts a solid collection of baseball skills, offering workable corner outfield defense, some pop, and some speed. The swing is a bit unorthodox, and he tries to make up for mediocre bat speed with timing and adjustability. He'll take pitches and work walks to prop up his on-base profile, but he's not going to win any batting titles. He often struggles to stride online against same-handed pitching, bailing out and exposing wide swaths of real estate around the zone. The lack of a carrying defensive tool, couple with platoon issues, tickets him on a strong-side corner platoon track. There's enough talent here that he's a decent bet to pull it off.