Time To Bring Billy Up?

The Reds are slumping, big time. They sit 4.5 games back in the National League Central Division standings, and are in 3rd place. The Cardinals and the Pirates are playing very good baseball, and the Reds are playing very poorly.

At the beginning of the season, Reds’ centerfielder, Shin-Soo Choo, was on fire as he would reach base one-way-or-another in just about every game. As the season has progressed, he has cooled off.

At the end of April, Choo was hitting .337, at the end of May he was hitting .289, and now in late June he is only hitting .265.

Derrick Robinson is the only other man that can really play center field, he is without a doubt the fastest man on the team. However, Dusty Baker likes to keep Robinson either in left field, or on the bench.  Shin-Soo Choo is slumping, yes, but he has played in all but three games so far. You know he has to be getting somewhat tired.

With Choo becoming less productive, and the offense really struggling, it might be time to bring up Billy Hamilton.

At AAA Louisville, Hamilton is hitting .247, 5 homers, 28 RBIs, and 49 stolen bases. The batting average, home run, and RBI numbers are not that impressive for Billy, but the 49 stolen bases are. How many times this season have you been so frustrated that the Reds left a runner on first or second base? The Reds can usually get runners on, but not over or in. Billy Hamilton could solve that problem.

Billy Hamilton, if brought up, would not start everyday over Choo, but could still be used. He could come off the bench in pinch hitting or pinch running situations. There is not a good base stealer on this team, no one is fast enough, really, with the exception of Derrick Robinson. The leading base stealer on the team is Shin-Soo Choo, he has eight stolen bags. Eight, that’s it. Billy Hamilton could steal eight bases in three of four games.

Billy Hamilton would not solve all of the Reds problems, but he certainly couldn’t hurt the Reds if he was brought up.