Billy Hamilton was relegated to the ninth hitter in the Cincinnati Reds‘ lineup far too long.
Reds’ manager Bryan Price had Hamilton hit ninth in 14 games this year. Hamilton has a .279 on-base percentage batting ninth in those games.
Since Price moved Hamilton to the second spot between the red-hot Zack Cozart and scuffling Joey Votto, Hamilton has strung together a .300 batting average and .333 OBP in five games batting second, including his last four starts.
The move has lifted Hamilton’s batting average to .234, which is slightly higher than Votto and Jay Bruce 33 games into the Reds’ season.
Ideally, Hamilton should hit leadoff. His blazing speed is an unique game-changing asset that should be afforded the Reds as many times as possible during the course of a game. Batting leadoff does that.
Hamilton has just a .273 OBP in 22 plate appearances from the leadoff position this year. That is in line with the .279 OBP he has from the ninth spot this year.
Last year was a slightly different story.
Hamilton slashed .230/.294 from the leadoff spot in 208 PAs last year. He was .223/.264 batting ninth in 226 PAs.
Neither slash is good enough. Hamilton must considerably improve his OBP to maximize the value of his speed. The recent success he’s had batting second may be short-lived, but at least it is a statistical start for success at the top of the order.
Hamitlon was gunned down in his last two stolen base attempts. He was uncaught his his first seven attempts before those two outs.
Hamilton does need to continue the success he had in reducing the times he was thrown out last year (eight times caught in 65 attempts) compared to 2014 (23 CS in 79 attempts).
But first and foremost, Hamilton needs to continue to bat higher in the order. Second is good for now while Cozart continues to rank in the Top 10 in the majors in batting average.
Once Cozart comes back to earth, it will make it easier to move Hamilton back to leadoff spot where he belongs.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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