It was another frustrating season for Billy Hamilton, to say the least. Since the ill-fated second half to his rookie year, it’s been a downward spiral for the 25-year-old Cincinnati Reds center fielder from an offensive standpoint, one that he couldn’t get out of in 2015.
Coming off of a 2014 season in which he got on base at a lowly rate of .292, there was hope that Hamilton was due for some improvement in his sophomore campaign. He worked on bunting and making better contact — specifically trying to eliminate strikeouts and numerous lazy fly balls caused by his looping swing — with Triple-A Louisville manager Delino DeShields over the winter.