Yesterday, after a furious home plate slide that was the highlight of a game between two low-market teams that went into extras, the baseball viewing public learned of a very important fact: Billy Hamilton's on the Marlins this year!
Honestly, all the shenanigans from that Marlins-Pirates game made it worth it, because on one hand it is a lot of supporting players right now in baseball, but on the other hand they're still interesting characters. You have Oneil Cruz knocking out Miguel Rojas's tooth, Billy Hamilton scraping the side of his face on a tag from Jason Delay, and you have Brian Anderson walking it off well into extras. It may not be good baseball, but it sure is intriguing baseball.
What makes the Marlins so exciting, even as they vie for 4th in the NL East, is the fact that, for the second year in a row, the Marlins host the league leader in stolen bases. Last year it was Starling Marte, who was leading the league even before leaving for Oakland, and this year it is infielder Jon Berti, who currently leads the majors with 28 steals. And it's not just Berti who's stealing bases right now, too- Jazz Chisholm had 12 steals before getting injured, and in his first 10 games of the season, Billy Hamilton has 3 steals. He only got his first hit of the year today, but he's already stolen 3 bases. This, folks, is what he does. And he's damn good at it.
So at least you can say that about the Marlins. They may be a one-dimensional hitter's team, and the emphasis may be on power hitters like Anderson, Jorge Soler and Jesus Aguilar, but it's also a very speedy team, with Berti, Chisholm, Hamilton and even Luke Williams providing some nice speed. What'd be really nice is if the Marlins could figure out contact hitting. There's a few people on this team who are proven contact hitters, like Rojas, Avisail Garcia and Joey Wendle, and they're not getting much done at all. I'm thankful that Garrett Cooper is having a better all-around season at the plate, but it shouldn't just be on him. Happy he made an All-Star team, though.
The Marlins do have more things going for them than a lot of weaker teams, like the rotation, on which Braxton Garrett is finally coming into form, and the bench, which has a lot of useful assets right now. But this is still an imperfect team that might not get much else done this year, so I'm glad they can rely on the stolen bases at this point. I also really hope Hamilton has a full, impressive season in Miami, as he deserves it.
Coming Tonight: A second baseman who competed as a member of the Orioles, Brewers and Twins. Pray for him.
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