Billy Hamilton has struggled in 2015. (Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports)
CINCINNATI — With the Cincinnati Reds’ offense struggling to find consistency, manager Bryan Price made his most drastic lineup change of the season Sunday, dropping leadoff batter Billy Hamilton to eighth in the order.
“Offensively, it’s been more challenging than I anticipated to be consistently efficient,” Price said. “It made sense to get some of our higher on-base guys to the top of the order”.
On Sunday, the revamped lineup produced eight runs on 12 hits in a 9-8 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Hamilton, 24, went 1-for-3 with two RBIs from the No. 8 hole.
Since the Hamilton debuted in 2013, he has shouldered the responsibility of setting the table for Cincinnati’s offense, batting leadoff in all but one of his first 172 major league starts.
Hamilton’s speed is disruptive when he is on base, as evidenced by his 86 career stolen bases. However, his career on-base percentage (.285) and batting average (.242) make him less suited for the leadoff role.
“I’m not getting on base enough to be a leadoff hitter,” Hamilton said. “It’s tough being a leadoff hitter. It comes with a lot of things. You have to take pitches, work the count. In the eighth spot, you can just play.”
Price withheld Sunday’s lineup until he had a chance to speak personally with Hamilton. The skipper made it very clear that he still envisions Hamilton as a leadoff hitter moving forward, but also said the demotion in the batting order wasn’t a one- or two-day fix.
“There’s this thing with Billy where we say, ‘You go, we go,’ but it shouldn’t be that way,” Price said. “I still believe Billy Hamilton will be an outstanding leadoff man. This move by no means is representative of my thoughts on where his future lies.”
Shortstop Zack Cozart batted leadoff Sunday, as he did the previous day when Hamilton got the day off. Although he went 1-for-4 in the series finale against San Francisco, Cozart is batting .300, and he led all National League shortstops in home runs (six) and slugging (.543) through Saturday. He has a .358 on-base percentage.
Hamilton, who is 17-for-19 on stolen-base attempts this season, said he felt more comfortable with the move after speaking with Price.
“The reason he gave me is what I wanted to hear,” Hamilton said. “I’m just going to try to get better. When I start getting right, I can move back up in the order when the timing’s right. My confidence is still there.”
For the moment, Hamilton has a new role, one with less responsibility, affording him some time to find his swing.
“We brought a guy up from Triple-A and put a lot of expectations on his ability to set the table and adjust to this caliber of pitching,” Price said of Hamilton. “I think it’s been a bit of a struggle for him since the second half of last season.”
