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Billy Hamilton Will Win 2014 NL Rookie Of The Year Award

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In the most hotly contested MLB post-season award of the year, Cincinnati Reds‘ Billy Hamilton and the New York Mets‘ Jacob deGrom are battling down to the wire. It’s probably more apt to say deGrom is battling, whereas Hamilton’s NL Rookie of the Year Award stock is falling faster than Wile E. Coyote tethered to an anvil.

Hamilton is the speedy lead-off hitter for the Reds. He was on a lot of highly touted prospect lists, but at the beginning of the season had many detractors who said his bat was made of baby Swiss and that he would not be able to adapt to center field.

The batting critics looked correct during the first few weeks of 2014. Slowly Hamilton grew more and more comfortable at the dish and he, as the baseball cliché says, started letting the game come to him. From day one, his center field play has been super. There are Gold Glove Awards in Hamilton’s future.

For quite a while he was the only Reds stick who seemed to be playing with any enthusiasm. But as the season wore, so did Hamilton whose average has dropped from .285 on July 11 to .258 on September 15.

Even with Hamilton slumping, there seemed to be no competition. Then slowly, but surely, the Mets’ starting pitcher deGrom began making noise — serious noise. Perhaps the loudest being an MLB record-tying eight consecutive strikeouts to start a game on September 15.

The 26-year-old righty was not nearly as heralded entering the season as was Hamilton. He didn’t see his first major league game until May 15. He threw well in his first four May starts then hit a rough patch in his first four June starts where it seemed as though rookie of the year numbers would be impossible.

Since then he’s been dominant. In his last 14 starts he’s allowed a mere 1.93 ERA, .212 BAA, 261 OBP and just two home runs in 93.1 innings.

The voting will be close. If Hamilton doesn’t get his average over .260 it will be a nail-biter ballot. But in the end, his steals and stellar center field will put the NL Rookie of the Year prize in his trophy case.

Illya Harrell is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Illya_Harrell, like him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.

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