Billy Hamilton is the most exciting baserunner to watch in all of baseball. The 25-year-old speed demon for the Cincinnati Reds is the ultimate game-changer when he reaches base.
Reaching base has been a problem, though, for Hamilton. His .283 on-base percentage for the first half of the season limited the damage he could do on base.
The short second half of the season has been a different story for Hamilton so far. In his first 33 plate appearances of the second half, Hamilton has reached base at a .424 clip. He’s also stolen eight bases in seven games.
Overall this year, Hamilton is hitting .251 with a .300 OBP and 30 stolen bases. He hit .250 with a .292 OBP and 56 SBs in his rookie year of 2014.
Expectations for Hamilton were tempered at the start of this year after he struggled in 2015. He hit just .226 with a .274 OBP last year.
Hamilton looked like struggling at the plate would be the norm during the first half of the year. Now he has the chance to dispel doubts that he can adjust at the plate to reach base more.
Reds’ manager Bryan Price promoted Hamilton to leadoff hitter for back-to-back games for the first time since May 2 and 3. Heading into Saturday’s game, Hamilton had started as leadoff hitter in 10 games this year. He has an OBP of .361 as a leadoff hitter in the limited sampling of 36 PAs.
There’s no reason for Hamilton not to lead off for the rest of the year. The Reds need to know if Hamilton can improve enough to be the leadoff hitter of the future for the Reds.
The Reds also need to see if Hamilton can remain healthy for the rest of the year. His head-first launches into bases and reckless abandon in center field make for doubts about whether or not Hamilton can stay healthy. He played in just 114 games last year. This year Hamilton has missed 15 games so far.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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