When the Reds let Shin Soo Choo walk, many people, including Reds fans and the national media, wondered if the kid Billy Hamilton had what it took to replace Choo and his production from 2013. Choo came off a phenomenal year, and was one of our two best offensive players last season. However, that shot his value up, and alas, he's wearing a different uniform this season.
Here are the current 2014 stats for the two, as of 7/9/2014:
Choo has a line of .250/.373/.391 for a .765 OPS. He has an OPS+ of 113, 14 doubles, one triple, 9 homers and 31 rbi, 3 sb, and a .9 WAR. And defensively, he's been moved to left field, where he's posted -8 DRS and a -8.8 UZR. Not to mention he's working on a 7 year, $130 million contract that's in its first year. As he continues to age, I expect that to be a huge albatross towards the end.
Now, how has Billy held up? He's hitting .285/.319/.420 (yes, he's slugging almost 30 points higher than Choo) with a .740 OPS and a 104 OPS+. He has 5 homers to go with 36 rbi , 37 SB, 18 doubles, 5 triples and a 2.5 WAR. Not to mention he's been fabulously handling his transition to center field.
Take away a rough first month for Hamilton, and this comparison isn't even close. I thought from the get-go that signing Choo long term would be a mistake, but I honestly felt that Billy would suffer some big time growing pains this season and that Choo would outperform him by a mile, leaving a huge hole in the Reds lineup. So far, Billy has been better on defense, on the basepaths, he's hit for more power, and his patience and ability to work the count have been much better than I expected. It's unlikely he can ever have the eye that Choo does or the OBP, but when you factor in the rest of his numbers, he's a better player RIGHT NOW than Choo.
And that, my friends, I could have never imagined.
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