Wake Up With Billy Hamilton Covering 123 Feet To Make A Diving Catch
See, this is why I’m so iffy about defensive metrics. How can an outfielder who can cover this much ground in that short amount of time be significantly behind the league leaders among outfielders in both defensive runs saved and UZR/150? I don’t get it. That’s why I try not to dabble too often with defensive metrics. Back in my day, we used to measure speed the old fashioned way — stolen bases. Since Billy Hamilton made his major league debut on September 3, 2013, he’s stolen 179 bases in 387 games. Over that span, only three other players have stolen more than 100 bases, and the runner-up, Dee Gordon, is 38 stolen bases behind Hamilton on that list. The league average for stolen bases over that span is 12.7, so these guys are obviously on another planet compared to the average major leaguer.