In his comeback from Tommy John, Gabriel Hughes took cues from Camus. Hughes, the Rockies’ first-round pick in 2022, returned to the mound in instructional league a little over a month ago after missing all of the 2024 minor-league season. While he was recovering from surgery, Hughes dove into a heady, philosophic reading list that included “The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus, “Existentialism Is a Humanism” by Jean-Paul Sartre and “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. Camus’ work struck a significant cord with the right-hander and underscored his mindset amid a rehabilitation that lasted over a year. “In these books, we’re trying to figure out how to deal with the inevitable bad things that happen in life, and after surgery, those were really what I was trying to find an answer to,” Hughes said.