Not so wonderful Opening Day 2014 debuts
(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Replacing one of last season’s on-base machines can create some unreasonable expectations. No leadoff man will come under more scrutiny this season than Hamilton. With Shin-Soo Choo departing via free agency (and a lofty contract), Hamilton will be looked upon to approach Choo’s .423 OBP.
His first game of 2014: 0-for-4. It’s Opening Day, so there may be a few that forgive him for that. Then you look at the boxscore and see the column “SO” and see a “4”, as in 4 strikeouts. That was the knock/concern with Hamilton as during his minor league career, his K% was rather high (20%). In his 22 PA after last September’s call-up, Hamilton struck out 4 times.
And then you see this…
Billy Hamilton is the 1st Red leadoff hitter to have 4 K's in 4 PAs since Ryan Freel, 9/2/2006. This was an awful day for Hamilton.
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) March 31, 2014
Oof…