I was in attendance tonight for Billy's 100th stolen base. Man oh man, that kid is super fast. I've never seen a pitcher so clearly distracted by a base runner before.
I was in attendance tonight for Billy's 100th stolen base. Man oh man, that kid is super fast. I've never seen a pitcher so clearly distracted by a base runner before.
Phil Castellini puts the FUN in Trust Fund.Originally Posted by BCubb2003
That crow tastes wonderful. Congrats to Billy!
Billy Hamilton steals his 100th base of the season - YouTube
Just for the sake of perspective, here's the last guy to steal 100 bags: http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=morris001ken
Last edited by RedsManRick; 09-04-2011 at 11:02 AM.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
His post all star OPS of .769 is encouraging. But, man he doesn't have any power. I'd sacrifice about 25 of those SB's for a little more pop in that bat. I hope this offseason he's on a strength program. After hearing about him last year I was pretty shocked when I saw him in spring training. It looked like a MLB pitcher could just about knock the bat out of his hands, and not in a Paul Janish way, I mean literally.
Still, I don't mean to rain on the parade. 100 bags is a nice accomplishment.
there's enough power hitters in the system, not enough slap hitters who can bunt, run, get on base and do the small things in front of the RBI guys, I hope the Reds draft more guys like him along with lots of hard throwing pitchers
Billy Hamilton isn't a slap hitter. He may want to be, but to me a slap hitter is Juan Pierre. A guy who always makes contact but has no power. Billy Hamilton fits the latter part of that, but he strikes out at the same rate that Jay Bruce does.
Makes me wonder, if he doesn't have power anyway, would he be better off cutting down his swing, going the pure slap route and trusting in his ability to lead the free world in infield hits? Or does he still have some doubles-power projection left?
Reading comprehension is not just an ability, it's a choice
I would like to think that he has doubles-power projection. I have seen him all year in Dayton and I have seen him hit numerous balls deep into the gaps and balls off the walls in the gaps, so the power is there. He just needs to grow into it.
He has some gap power potential. His problem is two fold IMO. One, he struggles with pitch recognition at times. Two, and perhaps this is strongly related to one, he doesn't keep his weight back well, often swinging off his front foot, which takes his already poor power and plays it down even more. Now, that could be related to number one, but it could also be by design, just trying to get the ball on the ground and run. I don't know the answer, but I think the answer might lay somewhere in the middle.
Just curious. How often does he bunt? Is he proficient at it? A strong bunt/pilfer foundation will serve him well in the future.
Billy is not a good bunter at this point. He is planning to work on this hard in instructional league. If he becomes a good bunter, it will help his batting average even when he swings away because the corner infielders will have to play in so far that they will sacrifice range.
I am not taking a position on whether he will ever get to the big leagues. And if he does get to the big leagues, I am not putting a floor or a ceiling on what kind of player he will be. All of that is a long, long way from being known. It is all going to depend on how he adjusts and adapts, level to level. But the point I would make is this: If you have not seen him totally take over a game like he did Saturday and then again Monday, you might say that the Reds need more players like Hamilton, players who have the ability to steal bases and play small ball. But the fact is, there are no other players LIKE Hamilton, not in the Reds organization or in any other organization. There is no one else with the freakish athletic ability to do the things only he can do.
You can talk about the five tools. Hamilton has a tool that no other player in baseball has: athleticism that is absolutely off the scale. A player with that kind of a God-given physical advantage has a better chance of showing massive improvement over time than a player who is an ordinary athlete.
Will he do it? I don't know and don't pretend to have a crystal ball. Yes, he has a long way to go. But to try to profile him into any category is not correct. There are no comparable players.
From July 5 until the end of the season, he scored 56 runs in 58 games. Think about that. And if you have seen him play, you know when he gets on base, he is not exactly waiting around for someone to drive him in. How many players have you ever seen who averaged about a run per game?
That is the kind of impact Hamilton had on the Dragons second half team that went 48-22.
Once in a great while, you see a player come along who has a skill so unique that it changes traditional universally-adopted strategy by the opponent. An example I could use would be Devin Hester, so unique as a return man that teams will go away from traditional ideas of kick coverage and just kick the ball out of bounds and sacrifice the yardage. I have seen things from opposing managers this year that you just don't see any other time with any other player.
For the record: Hamilton in the first half: .233. In the second half: .318.
It's great Dayton got to enjoy Hamilton over a full year. Been a long drought for that superb franchise.
Thanks for the input on Hamilton 72, very intriguing.
"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
What's the over/under on his steals next year hitting in the Cal League?
"In baseball, you don't know nothin'"...Yogi Berra
The problem with that is infields start playing in against him, cutting down some of that. If he can develop some pop, even 10 HRs and 25 doubles a year, he'll have the fielders playing back enough that when he can beat out an infield hit, he will.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
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