Born for this: Rookie Thompson's pinch-hit 1st walk-off thrills hometown crowd

DENVER -- Rookie Sterlin Thompson quipped about his place in Rockies trivia.

“Colorado native, baby,” Thompson said.

Thompson being called the first Colorado-born position player to make his debut with the club is a source of humor, since his family moved to Florida when he was 6 months old. But he made his birth city of Longmont and the entire Rocky Mountain region proud Wednesday night, with a ninth-inning pinch-hit single to drive in the winning run in a 3-2 victory over the Cubs at Coors Field.

The walk-off hit was Thompson's first in MLB. He is the third Rockies rookie to record a pinch-hit walk-off in his debut season, joining Adam Melhuse (Aug. 22, 2000 vs. the Braves) and Todd Helton (Aug. 29, 1997 vs. the Mariners).

The 31st overall Draft pick out of the University of Florida in 2022, Thompson is developing an approach that can keep him here long enough to make himself at home in a place he hardly knew before the Rockies summoned him from Triple-A Albuquerque, where he slashed .341/.485/.485 with four homers and 27 RBIs in 38 games.

Thompson, the Rockies’ No. 15 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, batted .148 in his first 12 games, but is hitting .368 (7-for-19) over his last seven appearances and gaining confidence. A combination of prepping for pitchers --- but not well enough to be awed by them -- but primarily trusting his batter’s box strategy is earning him trust as a left-handed-hitting matchup option.

Thompson’s winning hit through a drawn-in infield off hard-throwing Daniel Palencia followed a walk that Troy Johnston drew to end a seven-pitch plate appearance and a single from Brett Sullivan that ended a nine-pitch at-bat (one that included failed bunt attempts).

In the moments leading up to the at-bat, Thompson simplified all the scouting info.

“He throws 50 percent heater, and he has a slider,” Thompson said. “I was just, 'Get the [bat] head out, don’t miss the heater.' His changeup was kind of all right. But in that situation, when he was throwing to Troy and [Sullivan] he was throwing the heater and missing the slider.

“I was like, ‘When I get the heater, I’m gonna jump on it.'”

The simplicity comes from a well-thought-out hitting philosophy.

“When you’re convicted in your plan and your approach, it makes the game a little easier up here,” Thompson said. “Having good pitch selection, good discipline helps you.

“You pin in to what the pitcher is doing. But you’ve got to know who you are as a hitter. That’s something I buy into. What am I good at? How am I going to succeed off this type of pitcher every day? Then come up with a plan.”

As the newness of being in the Majors fades, Thompson’s confidence grows.

“We all know he can do it,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He came up and it took him a couple weeks to get his feet under him in the big leagues, which is really hard here, especially the first time. It just seems he’s gaining confidence with every at-bat. We really like the way he’s been conducting his at-bats.”

Fellow rookie TJ Rumfield gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead in the eighth when he powered Jacob Webb’s first pitch to him over the right-field wall for his eighth homer of the year, a two-run shot. The Cubs’ Ian Happ tied it with a leadoff homer off Antonio Senzatela in the top of the ninth. The late hitting came after Cubs starter Shota Imanga went five scoreless innings and Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen struck out seven and held the Cubs to one run in his five innings.

Big hits like Wednesday’s may yet make Thompson a man about town in Denver.

Actually, you could take the baby out of Colorado, but you couldn’t take all the baby out of him.

Born on June 26, 2001, Thompson felt a pull toward the Rockies by his rookie year of elementary school in Ocala, Fla. He fell in love with the Rockies that went to the World Series in 2007, and wore his Troy Tulowitzki Rockies jerseys among his Marlins-loving mates.

Since joining the Rockies, Thompson has been living in a hotel in Lo-Do -- “Lower Downtown,” for the uninitiated -- but hasn’t gotten out much.

“On off-days, you get in late at night, sleep a little bit and get a nice breakfast,” Thompson said. “I’ve visited Cherry Creek, the whole mall area. We do teammate stuff, chill, relax and stay in the hotel.

“I would like to go to Red Rocks Amphitheatre and see a concert. Avalanche, Nuggets, all the sports teams. If it works out, I’d like to go to a Broncos game. Tim Tebow played for them, and he’s a guy I like – because he was a Gator.”

Delivering for the Rockies will go a long way toward making Thompson a true Coloradan.