If you’re a baseball fan, you know just as well as anyone else that Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton is the fastest player in Major League Baseball. He has made that obvious in the past, by setting a record for stolen bases in a season, and stealing on some of the best catchers in the league like Yadier Molina.
However, what many do not know is that Billy Hamilton has power. He really has a lot more of it than fans might think.
Now I am not saying that Hamilton is a guy that will hit 40 home runs a season. Heck, I’m not even saying that he will hit 15 home runs a season. However, that is not what anyone expects. What I am saying is that Hamilton has more power than what anyone expected him to have. Hamilton’s expectations coming into this season were to be the best base-stealer in the league. Everyone thought he would hit a little dribbler somewhere, make it to first, steal second, and then be hit home. In reality, most expected Billy Hamilton to not hit any home runs at all. Especially in this season.
Billy has defied the expectations set for him hitting-wise this year. Hamilton is not just hitting little grounders and beating out the throws. Instead, he is driving the ball, hitting bloops, and utilizing his speed to turn outs into base hits, and base hits into extra-base hits. Like I said earlier, Hamilton was not at all expected to hit home runs. That is not what he is known for, and it is not what anyone thought he would do. And yet he already has four homers, and is on track to hit 10 of them this year. Sure, 10 home runs is nothing impressive. But yet it is when that person hitting 10 home runs only weighs 160 pounds, and is the fastest guy in baseball.
Hamilton’s under-rated power gives him the potential to be a truly great player. When a pitcher knows that Billy can hit home runs, he will not be able to leave the ball up in the zone. And when pitchers throw it low to Hamilton, he is able to get an easy base hit by hitting a ground ball and trying to beat the throw to first. And of course you can not forget that Hamilton can bunt for a base-hit consistently as well. The little bit of power that Hamilton has makes him an offensive threat in more ways than one.
If Hamilton can continue to hit for power more and more, and combine that with his speed, he will be a huge offensive contributor for the Cincinnati Reds.
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