Stole 5 bases today. He's up to 80 on the season. EIGHTY. He's averaging 1.23 steals per game. If he keeps that up and plays through the season, he's on pace for 167 steals. It's pretty obvious that's unlikely to happen...but DAMN. That's mind boggling.
For a reference, the most stolen bases in a season in the majors is by Hugh Nicol. He stole 138 bases in 1887. The most ever in the minors is Vince Coleman playing for Macon in A ball with 145...barely beating out Donell Nixon of Bakersfield that same year, falling short with 143.
Before the game Hamilton's batting numbers were .320/.405/.440.
I hope he can keep progressing as he comes up through the system and I expect him to come up pretty fast. He should be in AA next year and in Louisville in 2014...but I expect him to come up to Louisville halfway through next season and be playing on the major league squad in 2014 and maybe coming up in September next year.
I know that stealing in the majors is nothing like it is at high A level, but he's so damn fast. I had high hopes for this kid and so far he's exceeded my expectations by orders of magnitude. Hopefully he can keep it up! I haven't been this excited about a Reds prospect since Bruce.