The Official Billy Hamilton SB Record Countdown

[camisadelgolf]

[redsof72]

Originally Posted by RedsManRick

Once he breaks the record, I think the Reds brass will ask him to dial it back a bit.

Agree on that.

An interesting stat I came across today. I wanted to see how well he was running on lefties, who can be next to impossible to run on for most. It did not stop him last year in Dayton, and not this year. In Pensacola, Billy has 7 hits against LHP, and he has 7 SB against lefties.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by kaldaniels

I saw your tweet on Billys 3.64 time...anything to add to it here?

Video is on youtube if you want to see it. It is funny though, he was out on that play. Later in the game he had 2 infield hits, both 3.85ish.

[Brisco]

... To go to tie the record. I picked Santo in honor of his HOF admission.

[GullyFoyle]

Billy now has 31 in the Southern League and the leader has 41 with 19 to go. He is averaging more than 1 a game ...

The Baseball America podcast thinks he is going to lead both leagues ...

[SirFelixCat]

Because it's Ted freaking Williams, that's why!

[Brisco]

[Brisco]

[JayBruceFan]

[redsfandan]

That thursday night game at Mobile looks like the game to be at. Could be historic.

Maybe there could be a RedsZoner with video.

Originally Posted by Brisco

This is mostly directed to those that watch Reds prospects like Hamilton and that watched Morgan and the BRM. I've heard that Morgan was the sparkplug that got the BRM going. That he had the ability to start big innings and rallies mostly due to his ability to get on base and disrupt the opposing pitchers. Ok, here's the question: (dare I suggest it but ... ) could Hamilton be another Morgan?

I'm just talking strictly offense, could he make the same kind of impact? Improve the Reds offense, not just one notch, but one or two by himself. Obviously, Hamilton won't have Morgan's power and the obp might be wishful thinking. But, with Billy's speed and possible improvements to his baserunning ability ...

The Reds offense jumped from 586 runs scored in '71 to 707 in '72 (eventually reaching a peak of 857 runs scored in '76). From '70 to '76 the Reds were in the playoffs 5 times with around 100 wins every year except one. Could Billy be the key to another run of playoff appearances?

[Steve4192]

Originally Posted by redsfandan

That thursday night game at Mobile looks like the game to be at. Could be historic.

Maybe there could be a RedsZoner with video.



This is mostly directed to those that watch Reds prospects like Hamilton and that watched Morgan and the BRM. I've heard that Morgan was the sparkplug that got the BRM going. That he had the ability to start big innings and rallies mostly due to his ability to get on base and disrupt the opposing pitchers. Ok, here's the question: (dare I suggest it but ... ) could Hamilton be another Morgan?

I'm just talking strictly offense, could he make the same kind of impact? Improve the Reds offense, not just one notch, but one or two by himself. Obviously, Hamilton won't have Morgan's power and the obp might be wishful thinking. But, with Billy's speed and possible improvements to his baserunning ability ...

No

Little Joe's power makes the comparison ludicrous, especially once you adjust for era.

Also, while Hamilton has done a good job of pumping up his walk rate this year, I seriously doubt he'll ever be as proficient at it as Morgan was. Even if he develops an eye that is equal to Morgan's, he doesn't have the pop in his bat to keep pitchers from challenging him in the strike zone. Drawing walks is a lot harder when pitchers know they can throw a meatball down the middle and not get punished with an extra base hit.

Lastly, he will certainly be a more prolific base stealer than Morgan, he has a LONG way to go before he is as skilled as Morgan was on the bases. Hamilton is way faster than Morgan ever was, but Joe was the king of getting huge leads, taking extra bases, and generally making a nuisance of himself on the basepaths. If Hamilton can ever develop his baserunning SKILLS to go along with his natural gifts, he has a chance to be all-time great in the baserunning department.

[Scrap Irony]

Originally Posted by redsfandan

This is mostly directed to those that watch Reds prospects like Hamilton and that watched Morgan and the BRM. I've heard that Morgan was the sparkplug that got the BRM going. That he had the ability to start big innings and rallies mostly due to his ability to get on base and disrupt the opposing pitchers. Ok, here's the question: (dare I suggest it but ... ) could Hamilton be another Morgan?

I'm just talking strictly offense, could he make the same kind of impact? Improve the Reds offense, not just one notch, but one or two by himself. Obviously, Hamilton won't have Morgan's power and the obp might be wishful thinking. But, with Billy's speed and possible improvements to his baserunning ability ...

Hamilton's base-running ability distracts both pitchers and catchers. If he were to keep his obp over .350 (a possibility more and more probable with each game shown in AA), he'll improve the Red offense on his own. Too, because he already has a reputation for being patience, he'll likely get many borderline pitches.

Fastballs will become more prevalent for Votto, Phillips, Bruce, and others. Meatballs will improve their numbers.

He won't be Morgan, but I suspect he could become Morgan Lite.

[medford]

With somebody like Billy's skill set, I think its a double edge sword.

No body is going to want to walk him due to the damage he's capable on the base paths. So I don't think he'll see a ton of 1st pitch breaking balls. On the flip side, if you throw him something over the plate, somebody else's long single will be Billy's double, perhaps even triple, not to mention all the infield hits he'll generate on balls 99% of the baseball world will be out on, so you're not going to throw it over the middle and hope he gets himself out. I imagine Billy will see a bunch of 1st pitch fastball in under his hands or on the outer 1/4 of the plate. I don't know if he has problems w/ the inside fastball under the hands like so many other prospects do (thinking Juan Francisco), but if he can avoid that and recognize the difference b/w a strike on the outer 1/4 of the plate and lace it the other way and a ball the ends up outside the strike zone, I think he'll be a very productive ML hitter as long as his speed stays in tact.

He obviously doesn't have the power of a superstar ML player, but few ML superstars have his speed. He's got the type of speed that affects the way you pitch to him, you pitch to others when he's on base, the way the infield plays when he's at bat, etc...

[lollipopcurve]

A very nice article on Hamilton's progress as a hitter. Plenty of quotes from the Reds' AA hitting coach:

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp...vkey=news_milb

[Scrap Irony]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

A very nice article on Hamilton's progress as a hitter. Plenty of quotes from the Reds' AA hitting coach:

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp...vkey=news_milb

Jamarillo is well-respected. My favorite quote (and one that may finally put to rest the Hamilton-has-no-power meme:

"No doubt about it, he'll definitely be a .300 hitter," the hitting coach noted. "He hits the ball hard when he hits it. If it's in the gap, it's a for-sure triple. He hit one today over the center fielder's head and it was the easiest triple you've ever seen. Coasting into third just to see if they're overthrowing the relay.

He may not ever reach 10 homers in a season, but a .300/.350/.400 line with 80+ SB at a good rate is a difference-maker, especially at SS.