Just how good is Billy Hamilton?

[redsfanwill]

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

This guy is amazing!! 94 Stolen Bases!!! Are you serious!? Last 10 games hitting .422

Not to mention this...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...nt_id=14238973

That speed is absolutely amazing!

MLB.com projects he'll be up in 2014. I'm soo excited to see this kid in a Redlegs uniform!

[Driver62]

I was at the game last night and watched him steal 2nd and 3rd. He was halfway to 2nd before the ball even got to the plate and his steal of 3rd didn't even draw a throw. He then scored on a Sac Fly. That man makes Drew Stubbs look slow.

[Spider Tre]

i bet he could just dart to first during his at-bat and make it

[Roush's socks]

Speed is a secondary skill in baseball, since it is useless if a player can't get on base. But if Hamilton can OBP at a decent rate, and as a middle infielder, his bat might be good enough to make him a good MLB player. I saw a video of him making a leaping catch that was unbelievable. His vertical leap has got to be off the charts. He's a great athlete and if he can make himself into a contact hitter with a decent OBP he could be good. If Phillips' last year is 2012 then there is a gap until Hamilton would be ready, unless they move Cozart to 2nd in 2013

[The DARK]

He still has a very long road to the majors. His speed/base stealing is there, but the defense is very spotty. He'll be making impossible catches in the outfield one moment and the next he'll sling a routine throw well past 1st base. His hitting was pretty subpar at the beginning of the season as well.

Don't get me wrong, he has pure game-changing ability. There's nobody else in the game (Bourn is the only one who comes close) that can change the flow of an inning just by virtue of being on base. But he's got a long way to go yet to make it as an MLB shortstop.

[Roush's socks]

Originally Posted by The DARK

He still has a very long road to the majors. His speed/base stealing is there, but the defense is very spotty. He'll be making impossible catches in the outfield one moment and the next he'll sling a routine throw well past 1st base. His hitting was pretty subpar at the beginning of the season as well.

Don't get me wrong, he has pure game-changing ability. There's nobody else in the game (Bourn is the only one who comes close) that can change the flow of an inning just by virtue of being on base. But he's got a long way to go yet to make it as an MLB shortstop.

Yeah Hamilton has 38 errors so far this year so I'd say his defense has aways to to go. He still has to make the jump in hitting to AA, then to AAA then to the MLB, and he took a long time to start hitting in A. At this point I think Cozart is more of an answer at SS. Between the two of them at least one should work out at either SS or 2nd over the next couple of years.

[jwmann2]

Hamilton is an infielder. If defense is such a problem for him, let him play in the outfield when he gets up here, hopefully by Sept of 2012. Would love to see him play in person, might have to make a trip up to Dayton and check him out.

[Vottomatic]

People need to keep expectations in check considering he's playing single A ball.

When he's hitting .300 with 90 stolen bases at Louisville, I'll get excited.

[code]

I went to a Dragons game a few months ago and Bill looked horrible. Granted He almost beat a throw from short stop that was a routine groundball. He is super fast none the less. I don’t see him being in the majors for a long time.

[Redeye fly]

Originally Posted by Roush's socks

Speed is a secondary skill in baseball, since it is useless if a player can't get on base. But if Hamilton can OBP at a decent rate, and as a middle infielder, his bat might be good enough to make him a good MLB player. I saw a video of him making a leaping catch that was unbelievable. His vertical leap has got to be off the charts. He's a great athlete and if he can make himself into a contact hitter with a decent OBP he could be good. If Phillips' last year is 2012 then there is a gap until Hamilton would be ready, unless they move Cozart to 2nd in 2013

I would never say speed is useless. For an organization like the Reds a player like Hamilton might not have much value if he can't OBP at a decent rate. For an organization like the Yankees, they could probably pay him 2 million a year to make semi regular pitch running appearances.