That’s What Speed DON’T Do

At the end of the 2018 season, Merrifield and Mondesi made a positive impact with their gloves and legs - and importantly, with their bats. Merrifield led the league with 45 stolen bases in 2018 and Mondesi chipped in 32. Dayton Moore learned from the championship years that speed on defense and the basepaths is necessary for a Royals team to contend. So, he aggressively tried to improve the overall team speed and defense going into the 2019 season by adding Billy Hamilton.

The problem is a three-legged stool missing one leg is almost useless. Hamilton brings the speed and defense, but his hitting is like a broken stool leg. His Statcast average exit velocity is 81.1 mph. The MLB average is 88.8 mph. He is a slap hitter who hasn’t been effectively using his lower body in his swing. As a result, Hamilton’s triple slash line has progressively worsened over the last three seasons (see chart below).

His weak offense is a drag on the bottom of the batting order, where he usually hits ninth. With runners in scoring position, he is hitting (surprise) .217. However, Hamilton has come up to the plate 94 times with the Royals leading in the game. In those situations, he is hitting markedly better, .253/.301/.333. Here is a strategic option to consider: Yost could insert Hamilton into the lineup as soon as the Royals get a lead in order to maximize his defensive and offensive capabilities.

Would a team still trying to contend for the playoffs be interested in a trade for Hamilton this month? If I were a general manager, I would trade for Gore instead - his contract is cheaper, he’s just as fast as Hamilton, and he’s hitting better this season (.271/.340/.333). Keeping him in the everyday lineup and hoping he regains some trade value has been unsuccessfully tried. The team, again, needs to cut bait as this is yet another FA signing that hasn’t worked out (Owings, Boxberger). Why wait for the All-Star break to make the necessary move of designating Hamilton for assignment and calling up a certain centerfielder from Omaha who is slashing .311/.358/.433 in Omaha?