Important Milestone For Billy Hamilton

[FireDusty]

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...pbp&pid=571740

He was as low as .176 at one point well into the season. He's now at .253!

Once this kid gets it together, he's going to be a game changer. He may steal 100 in the majors, which is amazing because of the slide step being used to hold runners on.

He still has time to finish the season with a .280 Average, a .350 OBA and 100 plus steals.

He's 20.

[Scrap Irony]

Second half of the season: .300/370/360 with 20 SB in around 30 games, 120 ABs.

Small sample, but expected.

If he continues to hit like this, he'll be on target to take over for Cozart just at the end of his "prime years". (This assumes Cozart continues to hit at the mlb level.)

[*BaseClogger*]

The defensive development is likely more important than his offensive progress, TBH...

[Driver62]

He's also a nice guy. I was at the game on Thursday and had 2nd row seats by the Dragons dugout, When Billy was in the on deck circle, I told him I'll guarantee he'll get a hit. He hit a triple and later scored. Heading back to the dugout, he pointed at me and smiled. A minute later, he came to the end of the dugout and tossed me a ball.

Oh yeh, that man is fast. He went from home to third in a blink of an eye. No wonder he steals so many bases.

[The DARK]

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger*

The defensive development is likely more important than his offensive progress, TBH...

It comes with time. Shortstop is the most inherently error-inducing position on the field, and for a guy who's as raw and young as he is, the error rate is to be expected. Also, if I'm not mistaken, he has been improving on that front recently. By the time he reaches the majors, his speed should make his defense an asset rather than a liability.

I'm more interested in his walk rate, which often comes less easily. A .316 OBP isn't horrible, but even a slight uptick to .330 would do wonders for his value as a leadoff hitter.

[mace]

Anybody know how good of a bunter he is?

Obviously, he wreaks havoc when he gets on base. For those of you who don't read the minor-league game threads, here are the first and last runs scored in Dayton's walkoff victory Saturday night:

First inning . . .

*Billy Hamilton singles on a ground ball to pitcher Drew Tyson.
*With Ronald Torreyes batting, throwing error by Drew Tyson on the pickoff attempt, Billy Hamilton to 2nd.
*With Ronald Torreyes batting, Billy Hamilton advances to 3rd on a balk.
*With Ronald Torreyes batting, wild pitch by Drew Tyson, Billy Hamilton scores.

Ninth inning . . .

* Billy Hamilton walks.
* With Ronald Torreyes batting, throwing error by Blake Treinen on the pickoff attempt, Billy Hamilton to 2nd.
* Ronald Torreyes hits a sacrifice bunt. Throwing error by first baseman A. J. Kirby-Jones. Billy Hamilton scores. Ronald Torreyes to 1st.

So in two times on base, while the next batter was up, he induced three errors, a balk and a wild pitch. And scored twice without a subsequent hit. In fact, the only ball put in play on those two occasions was a sac bunt. And all of that came without a steal, which he does at a more prolific clip than anyone else in organized ball right now.

[corkedbat]

Originally Posted by mace

Anybody know how good of a bunter he is?

Obviously, he wreaks havoc when he gets on base. For those of you who don't read the minor-league game threads, here are the first and last runs scored in Dayton's walkoff victory Saturday night:

First inning . . .

*Billy Hamilton singles on a ground ball to pitcher Drew Tyson.
*With Ronald Torreyes batting, throwing error by Drew Tyson on the pickoff attempt, Billy Hamilton to 2nd.
*With Ronald Torreyes batting, Billy Hamilton advances to 3rd on a balk.
*With Ronald Torreyes batting, wild pitch by Drew Tyson, Billy Hamilton scores.

Ninth inning . . .

* Billy Hamilton walks.
* With Ronald Torreyes batting, throwing error by Blake Treinen on the pickoff attempt, Billy Hamilton to 2nd.
* Ronald Torreyes hits a sacrifice bunt. Throwing error by first baseman A. J. Kirby-Jones. Billy Hamilton scores. Ronald Torreyes to 1st.

So in two times on base, while the next batter was up, he induced three errors, a balk and a wild pitch. And scored twice without a subsequent hit. In fact, the only ball put in play on those two occasions was a sac bunt. And all of that came without a steal, which he does at a more prolific clip than anyone else in organized ball right now.

The one thing I haven't seen anything on is his bunting ability. Is he very good and is it something he works on on a regular basis? If not, its a crime. He's gonna get more than his share of infield hits as it now. Being able to become even a halfway decent bunter alone could add20-30 points to his OBP, IMO.

Drop'em Billy!

[bubbachunk]

Bunting is overrated if you dont have enough pop to get the ball out of the infield. That slug% is scary low to me

[corkedbat]

Originally Posted by bubbachunk

Bunting is overrated if you dont have enough pop to get the ball out of the infield. That slug% is scary low to me

There's time for hamilton to develop over the next couple of years and add at least some gap power. The time to be working on his bunting is now.

The entire infield can be waiting on it, but he has the speed to still make them nervous and him a tough out.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by corkedbat

There's time for hamilton to develop over the next couple of years and add at least some gap power. The time to be working on his bunting is now.

The entire infield can be waiting on it, but he has the speed to still make them nervous and him a tough out.

The time for him to learn to hit the ball is also now. He should be working on both parts of his game, and I imagine that he is.

[nemesis]

Even at this point with the emergence of Grandal, Billy is living up to his high ranking as a prospect. As a matter of fact so is the entire Dayton team.

Right now in the second half of the season the Dragons are 20-8.

The line-up usually consists of

SS Hamilton - Overall - .316/.339/.655 - Second half - .368/.359/.727 (14 BB/18K)

2B Torreyes - Overall - .433/.528/.961 - Second half - .429/.530/.959 (7 BB/8 K)

1B D'Anna - Overall - .388/.425/.813 - Second Half - ..409/.479/.888 (15 BB/18 K)

RF Yorman - Overall - .321/.400/.721 - Second Half - .348/.516/.864 (3 BB/15 K)

3B Vidal - Overall - .353/.492/.845 - Second Half - .414/.536/.950 (11 BB/15 K)

DH Lutz - Overall - .332/.466/.796 - Second Half - .376/.538/.915 (8 BB/18 K)

LF Duran - Overall .340/.457/.797 - Second Half - .326/.500/.826 (6 BB / 33 K)

C Barnhart - Overall .358/.395/.753 - Second Half - .356/.381/.737 (8 BB/ 10 K) 51% CS / .999 FLD% - 1 Error/4 PB - Insane

CF - Bowe - Overall .349/.349/.698 Second Half - .384/.302/.686 (7 BB / 16K)


So the entire team has went into a hitting frenzy and showed marked patience improvement at the plate.

Barnhart has slipped a bit. Probably due to the most games he has ever caught in his life. Bowe has improved in the OBP but his SLG% has almost dipped into the 2's.

You could make a case for 6 of theses guys to easily be in the top 20. Include the pitching you could get probably 9 in there.

I am all for leaving this team together and giving them a legitimate shot to win the MWL championship. Promotions are nice but I believe winning and chemistry is whats best for these kids right now.

[partisan]

Barnhart is very impressive defensively, I'm starting to like that kid. Not entirely convinced about his offensive ability but he seems to have good plate discipline, which is a great place to start.

But if anything is certain, it's thatDayton has been a lot of fun to watch the past few weeks

[partisan]

I wish Duran would cut down on the K's.

[TRF]

I hope he does develop a bit of power. He won't, but i hope he does. Smells like a faster Willy Taveras. And unlike Drew Stubbs, who i have come to admit does have power (though it seems no one in the Reds minor leagues understood that), Hamilton better have eagle eyes at the plate, because his nickname will be infield hit.

or super sub.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by TRF

I hope he does develop a bit of power. He won't, but i hope he does. Smells like a faster Willy Taveras. And unlike Drew Stubbs, who i have come to admit does have power (though it seems no one in the Reds minor leagues understood that), Hamilton better have eagle eyes at the plate, because his nickname will be infield hit.

or super sub.

I think Hamilton could have pretty good gap power. When he is able to stay back on the ball and get a full swing on the ball rather than the choppy swing he gets into sometimes, he can put the ball to the wall in the gaps. I don't think he is going to develop much HR power, but if he were a 40 double, 15 triple, 5 HR guy one day, it wouldn't shock me.