Billy Hamilton has had a big impact since debuting for the Reds on September 3, going 13-for-13 stealing bases and at times totally psyching out the other team with his incredible speed. He’s also 6-for-14 (.429) with two doubles in limited action at the plate.
And yet Jeremy Warnemuende of MLB.com writes that the Reds aren’t sure if they’ll even include Hamilton on the playoff roster, with manager Dusty Baker saying:We still haven’t decided. There’s a lot of variables here and a lot of things we have to decide. I know Billy is the topic of the day, and they’re selling t-shirts up there already. It’s just that, that’s not the focal point of where we’re going. Billy is a possible part for that. ...
Who do you delete to take his place? Thing is, Billy, is he ready to handle that pressure? And not only baserunning, which he can probably handle, but is he ready to start a game, or is he ready to come off the bench and get some hits that you might need.
Whatever. There’s just no way it makes sense for the Reds to keep some extra middle reliever or utility man over Hamilton, who has a legitimate chance to change a game in the late innings. He’s a perfect use of the 25th roster spot and it’s hard to imagine Baker and company not coming around to that idea by the time rosters are due.