Press Release: The Cincinnati Reds’ top overall prospect, as rated by MLB.com, Billy Hamilton brings his chase for the Minor League single-season stolen base record to Pensacola. Hamilton has played the entire season for Advanced-A Bakersfield where he swiped 104 bases in 82 games. He is on pace to break the current minor league mark of 145 steals set by Vince Coleman in 1983 with the Single-A Macon Redbirds.
Hamilton was a second round pick of the Reds in 2009 out of Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Miss. He joined Wahoos pitcher Kyle Lotzkar as the Reds representatives in the 2012 Sirius-XM Futures Game as part of the Major League All-Star festivities in Kansas City, Mo. This season Hamilton has hit .323 with a home run and 30 RBI. His on-base percentage of .413 ranked fourth in the California League prior to his promotion.
The speedy shortstop has garnered media attention on the national scale from ESPN to USA Today for his assault on the base paths this season.
Last season for Low-A Dayton, the shortstop swiped 103 bases in 135 contests for the Dragons. Including this season, the Mississippi native has stolen 269 bases over his first four seasons as a professional. He also garnered the Sheldon “Chief†Bender Award as the Reds Minor League Player of the Year in 2011.
Hamilton replaces SS Didi Gregorius, who was promoted to Triple-A Louisville in a corresponding move. The shortstop, ranked by MLB.com as the Reds’ No. 4 prospect in the system, has hit .282 through 80 with Pensacola this season. He has a home run and 31 RBI. Gregorius dazzled Pensacola fans with his range and excellence with his glove at short. He was named a starter for the Southern League South Division in this year’s All-Star Game.