BSN Exclusive: Inside Garrett Hampson's historic rise through the Rockies system

DENVER – When Garrett Hampson reported to the Rockies major league camp in Scottsdale in February at the start of the 2018 season, he was a 23-year-old infielder who had never played professional baseball above Class A.

By October, he was on Colorado’s playoff roster and a key player off the bench, scoring what would be the final run of the season for the Rockies.

He began his pro career playing alongside friend, teammate, and Rockies top prospect Brendan Rodgers, Hampson drove in seventy runs from atop the lineup for the Lancaster JetHawks, batting .326 with 51 stolen bases, second-most in the organization.

Even with his selection to the California League end-of-year All-Star Team at second base, it seemed an unlikely prediction that an infield prospect from High-A would make such an impact in 2018 to earn a spot on the postseason roster, particularly one already so replete with stars at his various positions.

Less than two years removed from college, the Long Beach State University product was impressing coaches enough to be invited to major league camp in Scottsdale at the Salt River Field baseball complex.

At the end of spring, Hampson reflected on this experience with Colorado’s trio of talented infielders as he continued to develop his skills in the upper levels of the minor leagues.

“It was fun to see how the big leaguers act, how they go about their business, especially the great ones, like Arenado and Story or LeMahieu,” he told BSN Denver. “I learned so much from them every day, picking their brains. I was really fortunate to be with those guys and I had a really great time.”

Hampson began his 2018 campaign at Double-A Hartford alongside Rodgers, who already had thirty-eight games of play with the Yard Goats under his belt following a promotion in 2017.

During a ten-game stretch from May 5-14, Hampson put on a hitting display, batting .390 during this span with multi-hit performances in eight of ten games, elevating his average from .277 to .307 in the process.

Also on May 14, DJ LeMahieu was placed on the disabled list for the second time in a little over two weeks. With the depth at second base tenuous at best, Colorado’s front office and coaching staff began to look at potential options.

Two days later, Garrett Hampson moved past Rodgers and was given the call to report to Triple-A Albuquerque, just one rung removed from the major leagues.

After fifty-four games with the Isotopes, Hampson got the call on July 20 to pack his bags and head to Phoenix. He was added to the 40-man roster the next day and made his major league debut at Chase Field, smacking a double in his second at-bat as a big leaguer.

Hampson’s promotion made him only the second hitter from the 2016 draft class to make his major league debut, bested only by Baltimore Orioles outfielder Austin Hays, who made his debut in September of 2017 and failed to get back to the majors in 2018.

The twenty-three-year-old discussed his pride in rising through the organization and being promoted past other players selected ahead of him in the 2016 MLB Draft.

“For sure, yeah. [I was] still a high round pick, but I think you always feel like you could have gone higher and whatnot, so a little chip on the shoulder there. But I think that’s just in the competition. I think everybody should feel that way as well.”

By the time the Rockies returned home to play the champion Houston Astros, Hampson felt he had already settled into a rhythm of playing in the bigs and spoke about it as such.

“I have a good understanding of where to be and when to be there and getting my routine down. These guys have made it really easy on me just to feel comfortable in here.”

Demoted and promoted twice more between Albuquerque and Denver through the season, Hampson featured on the Rockies bench during September’s roster expansion and was placed in some big spots.

He played in twenty-four games, equally starting ten games at second base and shortstop. Hampson was even given the opportunity to play a few innings in centerfield

Offensively, it was only 40 at-bats, but he put together a slash line of .275/.396/.400 while going 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts.

When the calendar turned to October, Hampson’s versatility in the field and, more importantly, speed on the base paths, earned him a spot on the 25-man playoff roster.

With Hampson’s inclusion on the roster, he became only the second Rockies player in franchise history to make a postseason roster having entered the season with zero experience above Class High-A, joining Franklin Morales, who first accomplished the feat in 2007. Morales would go all the way on to pitch in the World Series that year.

In game one of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reno native came on to pinch run as the potential game-tying run after Matt Holliday singled with no outs in the top of the ninth with the Rockies down 2-0.

He recounted the play that tied the game at two apiece to send the game into extra innings:

“I knew [Arenado] didn’t get all of it. It was pretty shallow. I saw Cain get behind it really well. I knew there was going to be a play at the plate. I was ready to go. You have to take a chance there. I was thankful to be safe. That was pretty fun. I’ll remember that for a while.”

The tying run wound up being the last one Colorado would score in the series and was one of a few highlights in the three-game sweep by Milwaukee. Even after the elimination loss at home, Hampson tried summing up his entire 2018 journey.

“When I first got here, I just tried to soak everything in. See how these guys go about their business every day. Really special players. I look up to a lot of them. Once you get in there, you realize it’s the same game. Just a little faster, a little more talent. I know I can play here at this level. It gave me some more confidence each time I went out there.”

In a bittersweet clubhouse beneath Coors Field on a cold and unforgiving end-of-season night, he continued to reflect upon a path that began when his High-A Lancaster JetHawks season came to a close in 2017.

“I never thought I’d be here at the end of the year. Especially playing October baseball. It’s been a fun ride. Really special year. This is a great group of guys and we had a great season.”

With so many Rockies prospects on the cusp of major league stardom, including those who ended their season farther down in the organization, Hampson had some words of wisdom from his 2018 experience.

“I would just tell them, ‘It might seem like you’re far away, but you’re really not. A couple things happen and you’ve got to be ready and you’ve got to stay ready.’ First time I came up, DJ got hurt. All of a sudden, I’m in Denver. I get sent back down, Trevor gets hurt. I get called up and I’m in there. Just when you think, ‘Well, it’s not my year or I’ve got time or it’s not my time’, it could be. You’ve got to be ready. You’ve got to be able to step up and play well and help the team win in any way you can.”

For the likes of top prospects like his good friend Rodgers or Colton Welker, Tyler Nevin, Ryan Rolison and others in the lower reaches of the minors or any numerous likes of young players from Lancaster to Hartford to Albuquerque, a place with the 2019 Rockies could be on the horizon.