As the home stretch of the season hits, the Rockies are gearing up to be players in both the NL West and wild-card races. They will now get a hand from a fresh face who is also an old friend: Matt Holliday. 

Holliday was drafted by the Rockies out of high school in 1998 and spent the first five years and 698 games of his career in Colorado. He finished as the NL MVP runner-up in 2007, when the Rockies won their only NL pennant. And now, after having signed a minor-league deal with his first team just a few weeks ago, he could provide a boost to the offense. He has been called up and will start Thursday, per the Denver Post. 

Holliday, 38, is hitting .346/.452/.596 with four doubles, three homers, 14 RBI and more walks than strikeouts in 15 Triple-A games. It's Triple-A competition, yes, but Holliday is proving that he's still got something in the tank. His future teammates are taking notice, too. Here's Nolan Arenado in The Athletic: 

"Unbelievable hitter," Arenado said. "When pitchers are facing us and see Matt Holliday coming off the bench, they're going to think twice about throwing something over the plate."

"I want him to come up," Arenado said. "I want him here. He was one of my favorite players growing up. I want to play with him. I think he can help us out, off the bench, whatever. I know he can definitely be a help."

Arenado has gotten his wish. 

As Arenado notes, Holliday could be a nice weapon off the bench. What about at first base, though? Ian Desmond is hitting .234/.303/.436 (85 OPS+) and has been worse in August since a resurgent July. In left field, David Dahl (.268/.320/.471/98 OPS+) and Gerardo Parra (.284/.337/.376/82 OPS+) could be offensively upgraded as well. 

The best course of action will likely be to mix Holliday in at first base, left field and as a pinch-hitter based upon matchups and who is going well. Manager Bud Black is certainly well-equipped to handle matters on this front. 

The big takeaway is Holliday will be wearing the Rockies uniform again on Thursday, and that's pretty fun.