Former Shocker baseball outfielder Sam Hillard has been traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for right handed pitcher Dylan Spain. 

Last season, Hillard appeared in 70 games for the Rockies. He had a .184 batting average and .544 OPS. In 2021, the lefty hit a career-best of 14 home runs. Over the course of his career so far, he has 29 home runs and 570 career-at bats. 

Hillard played his freshman season of college baseball at Navarro College and his sophomore season at Crowder College. After a year at Crowder, Hillard was drafted in the thirty first round by the Minnesota Twins but ultimately decided to transfer to Wichita State. 

Hillard led the Shockers in RBI’s (51), most triples in a season (51) and led the team in hits (73) at bats (218) and batting average (.335) during the 2015 season. He was earned first team honors by the Missouri Valley Conference. 

Hillard played one season with the Shockers as a junior. After his junior season, he was drafted by the Rockies in the fifteenth round of the First-Year Player Draft and made his MLB debut in 2019.