A crucial season for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton hit a speed bump when he suffered an injury to his thumb Tuesday.
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Latest on Hamilton's Thumb Injury
Wednesday, May 4
Hamilton left Tuesday's game against the San Francisco Giants early after jamming his left thumb, and the timetable for his return is unclear, although manager Bryan Price seemed optimistic about a quick recovery.
According to MLB.com's Mark Shelton, Price explained how the injury happened and what to expect from Hamilton moving forward: "He got jammed with a pitch in his first at-bat and it just blew up. ... It gets swollen and makes it really hard for him to swing the bat. He'll probably be able to do something [Wednesday], I would imagine. He was pretty much done for the night after that happened and was unusable as an offensive piece."
Hamilton has reached a point where his offense needs to show signs of life for the Reds to depend on him as an everyday player. He has gotten off to a slow start in 2016, hitting .215 with one home run, five RBI and five stolen bases, so questions about his ability to be in the lineup 150 times will only grow.
The 25-year-old has game-changing speed, as evidenced by his 113 stolen bases from 2014 and 2015, and he's an outstanding defensive center fielder with 26 runs saved. By comparison, no other center fielder with at least 2,000 innings played from 2014 to 2015 had more than eight defensive runs saved.
Hamilton's problem is wrapped up in the bat—he owns a .241/.271/.354 career slash line—which makes it hard for Price to play him on a consistent basis. He's fortunate to be on a rebuilding club that can afford to be patient with him, but there's only so much string left.
The Reds can turn to Scott Schebler on the bench to fill in while Hamilton is out. The 25-year-old is hitting just .177 with one homer and eight RBI this season, however.
Missing time because of injuries will only compound the problems for Hamilton, who needs a good year to make the Reds believe he's going to be a big part of their future.
Advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs.
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