Cincinnati Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton is recovering from a torn labrum he suffered back in September.
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Hamilton On Track for Spring Training
Thursday, Jan. 28
Hamilton updated Mark Sheldon of MLB.com on the progress of his right shoulder, which he had surgically repaired during the offseason.
“The rehab is coming along well,” Hamilton said Thursday. “I’m not 100 percent yet, but close to it. We had a schedule to be ready right around spring training. As of right now, we’re on track to make that happen.”
He told Sheldon that he is fully “throwing, hitting [and] lifting weights,” claiming that he’s “not limited or anything” and that his “shoulder feels good.”
“I’m looking forward to getting out to Arizona and doing more stuff. I haven’t been able to do much stuff out on the field because of the weather,” Hamilton said. “It’s a process you don’t want to rush. I could go out there and long toss, but there’s no point in doing it right now. They want to make sure everything is healed.”
The Reds’ leadoff man experienced a down year during his second full season in the major leagues. One of the speediest players in the game, Hamilton batted just .226 in 114 games with a .274 on-base percentage.
Despite his difficulties getting on base, Hamilton still swiped a career-best 57 bases, a number that would have been much higher had he not run into shoulder issues.
He realizes that too, as he told Sheldon.
“[The results] were nowhere near where I wanted them to be,” Hamilton said. “Baseball is a game where if you set a goal and don’t get it, you have to do something in the offseason to make that goal happen the next year. I feel like this is a new year and I’ll do better.”
For a Reds team that ranked 26th in the majors last season with just 3.95 runs per game, it’ll need a player like Hamilton to find his way on base and help manufacture runs for the team.
Too often in 2015, a big bat like Joey Votto was coming up to the plate with the bases empty. It would be a huge help to the team if Hamilton made some noise ahead of him and was able to wreak some havoc on the basepath.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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