The Curious Case of Josh Hamilton

The Curious Case of Josh Hamilton

Let’s start off by stating the obvious. Josh Hamilton is a good baseball player. Problem is, he could be a really great baseball player but unfortunately he has never met a pitch he hasn’t liked. Hamilton puts up stats there’s no question about it, but when you swing at everything that’s bound to happen. Last season he hit 31 doubles and 43 home runs, but also had 162 strikeouts and 60 walks. To put that into perspective, the strikeout number puts him just outside the top 10 in the league and the 60 walks puts him behind guys like Kelly Johnson and Mark Reynolds (MARK REYNOLDS!!!!). On no planet should Mark Reynolds have more walks than Josh Hamilton.

It was well documented last year that Hamilton was having trouble hitting and seeing the ball in day games. His blue eyes, and any light colored eyes, due to lack of pigment, will attract more unwanted light and cause glare problems. His hitting at night was better, but he still leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to pitch selection. Watching Hamilton play regularly you can’t help but shake your head at some of his swings and say to yourself, “What is he swinging at?”

Pitchers fear him and rightfully so. He has been called “The Natural” because of his effortless ability to drive pitches and his all-around talent being next to none. He is pitched to very carefully but so many times he will bail them out by swinging at pitches a foot out of the strike zone. You would think by now he would make the adjustment to be less aggressive and put his numbers into another stratosphere but maybe he is content with what he’s doing. That has to be the only explanation for a guy with 266 walks and 633 strikeouts in his career.