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Last night, as every Cincinnati Reds‘ fan knows, No. 1 prospect Billy Hamilton made his Major League debut.
Hamilton was inserted into the game in the seventh inning after a single by Ryan Ludwick. Hamilton is best-known for his base-stealing abilities, and St. Louis Cardinals‘ pitcher Seth Maness was very aware of that. Maness threw over three times before throwing a pitch to Todd Frazier. Hamilton said he was nervous, and a big reason why was probably because the catcher was Yadier Molina, arguably the best all-around catcher in the MLB.
After the three throws over to first, Maness finally threw a pitch, and Hamilton was off and running to second. Molina didn’t make a great throw, and Hamilton reached safely. He later would come across to score thanks to an RBI by Frazier.
I just stated the facts in the above paragraph. The most important thing about the above paragraph is that Molina didn’t make a great throw. It was way too high and too far toward first base. Had the throw been right on target, it would have been close, but Hamilton would have likely been out.
Hamilton sure did make Reds’ fans excited, which is understandable, but they shouldn’t get too excited with him, yet, at least.
That was just one stolen base and one run. Yes, that was the difference in last night’s game, but that doesn’t mean much for the rest of the season. All Hamilton has proven is that he is fast, and nothing else, yet.
I am by no means saying that Hamilton isn’t a good player, he obviously is, that’s why he is playing Major League Baseball. All I’m saying is that you can’t get too excited about him yet — that was just one stolen base — but hopefully just one of many to come.
Coop Ledford is a Cincinnati Reds writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CoopLed and add him on Google Plus.
