Am I the only one concerned about Hamilton?

[Bruce Nye]

Personally, I'd like the Angels to leave CJ and Hammy in Arlington and come home.

[ukyah]

i've lost all my confidence in hamilton. i prefer the angels lineup and defense without him at this point. i think it benefits the angels if he doesn't play again this year.

[WallyWorld]

i've lost all my confidence in hamilton. i prefer the angels lineup and defense without him at this point. i think it benefits the angels if he doesn't play again this year.

 

I'll check back with you in 2 weeks when Howie has gone ice cold again and there is no one to hit clean up.

[WallyWorld]

Personally, I'd like the Angels to leave CJ and Hammy in Arlington and come home.

 

The Angels don't even have a complete 5 man rotation at the moment and you're advocating to get rid of another? Sounds like a good move.

[Jay]

So Toridd is Scioscia?

[Ochocinco!]

I'm concerned he comes back

[SoWhat]

We'll never see the same Hamilton we saw in Texas, maybe for a few series out of the year but that's about it. IMO, the team is better off without him

[Jay]

We'll never see the same Hamilton we saw in Texas, maybe for a few series out of the year but that's about it. IMO, the team is better off without him

 

At least until Kendrick returns to form.

[T.G.]

My hope is that one day in the future - Lou will bump this thread for all the "right" reasons.

[Angelsjunky]

Torrid, I'm with you.  I am concerned.  I'd like to see him back in the lineup.  His streaky performance aside, I think they team has much more upside with him in the lineup.  Call me crazy, but I'll take my chances with Josh Hamilton over guys like Cowgill in the post season.

 

I love how some fans like to make proclamations about whether or not a player is "done."  It's one of the things that makes me crazy.  Everyone's entitled to an opinion, but this board loves to pile on when a player is down.  Sometimes it's as if they take joy in that process. The silly nicknames are juvenile and tiresome. 

 

I believe he can still be productive and a force in the middle of the lineup.  He's had lots of nagging injuries and that's unfortunate.  I'm not even close to writing him off.

 

True Grich, I hear you and appreciate you wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, but frankly I think you're in a bit of denial. We've got almost two years of data now and Hamilton is showing no sign of recapturing his Texas form. Furthermore, those "nagging injuries" aren't something apart from skill decline - one of the reasons people decline so steeply around Hamilton's age is that the nagging injuries start piling up, which erodes confidence. Hand-eye coordination doesn't start declining until after 40, so if a player can stay healthy and fit and confident, then he can keep up his game well into his 30s (look at Ortiz). But Hamilton has been bad for two years now and isn't exactly a spring chicken.

 

I think the best we can hope for is that he's reasonably healthy next year, plays 130-140 games, and hits .280/.850 with 25 HR. I think that's possible. Likely? No. His confidence seems shot and he's just too injury prone.

[Jay]

Aren't the "nagging injuries" evidence of past PED use?

[bloodbrother]

He's always been pretty fragile though, even when he was tearing it up with Texas. Honestly, that was another reason the contract made little sense. Extensive injury history + alarming trends with regards to his hitting ability. We all saw how awful he was the 2nd half of 2012 and how easy it was to get him out by just lobbing up offspeed stuff in the dirt. He swung at everything all the time

 

 

When Hamilton does return, I'd rather he not hit 4th, but he will. Come playoff time, the good pitchin they'll face will easily just pitch around him, especially with runners on base, and let him get himself out by swinging away. Still, he's better than Boesch so there is use for him in the lineup...but let's not pretend that this dude will be key to their postseason success.

[19HALO71]

I'm not saying that Hamilton is done. But I do feel that as of right now, we are a better team without him. Maybe he has been playing hurt? Maybe not. If he is hurt? shut him down and let the healing begin. I would rather have a scared Cowgill or Cron take his at bats than an injured or lost Hamilton.

[T.G.]

Angelsjunky - all valid and logical points.  Maybe it's a reach - but I think his performance is explainable.  I am willing to believe that his drastic weight loss last year had an impact and that his thumb injury this year has also had an impact.  I believe or at least "want" to believe that the glimpses we saw prior to his DL stint is what we could still expect in the future.

 

You know his OPS on the road is pretty good....

 

Maybe I'm in denial.  Maybe we all see what we want to see.  Time will tell.

[Bruce Nye]

I'm thrilled that Hamilton put all that weight back on during the off-season so he could regain the lost strength.

[Reveille1984]

Is Hamilton really an "intimidating veteran bat" or strong lineup presence that any pitcher fears at this point?  The guy has been a shell for basically two entire seasons with the same tired MO at the plate.  All of his power stats are dropping off a cliff (ISO, SLG, wRC) and he continues to have a different nagging problem every few weeks. 

 

Sure it'd be nice to have another bat around, but he needs to be in the 6 or 7 hole at highest. 

[ukyah]

I'll check back with you in 2 weeks when Howie has gone ice cold again and there is no one to hit clean up.

 

feel free to, my answer will be the same because kendrick's performance is not how i base my judgement. i base it solely on hamilton's performance and those who would occupy his position both in the field and in the lineup. in my mind hitting is about approach, and hamilton has a horrific approach nowadays. i'm quite comfortable with his replacements and the lineup shuffle it represents. as i said, i believe it's a better lineup now.

[Ohtaniland]

Hamilton in Anaheim has been a disaster.

2013 at home .236 / 9hrs / 31rbi's / .289obp / .690ops

2014 at home .247 / 0hr's / 16rbi's / .314obp / .615ops

We got fleeced!

[T.G.]

Hamilton took two more cortisone shots today

 

https://twitter.com/MikeDiGiovanna/status/509813318710611968

[Inside Pitch]

Hamilton took two more cortisone shots today

 

https://twitter.com/MikeDiGiovanna/status/509813318710611968

 

They should give him a shot of mojo too -- he hasn't had that in two years.

[Ohtaniland]

Steroid ( Cortisone ) Injection.

That should do it.

[Angel Oracle]

Three more years of this, at a much higher salary on top of it

[Stradling]

Aren't the "nagging injuries" evidence of past PED use?

Yes, and nagging injuries are also a sign of getting older. I use to think he was a steroid guy then I read an article a few years ago, before he was an Angel, saying because of his past drug issues he was the most tested player in baseball. When I heard that I kind of backed off on that stance.

[Stradling]

Three more years of this, at a much higher salary on top of it

Yea but his cap number is the same and you don't really know if this is the Hamilton you will be getting.

[Angelsjunky]

True Grich, yeah, of course they're explainable. But at the end of the day the Angels have spent $34 million on 3.2 fWAR through Hamilton's first two seasons, and what's left--for $89 million--are three years of age 34-36 for a player with nagging injury concerns and a .741 OPS over the last two years. Hopefully Hamilton can soften the blow by hitting .850 next year, but there's really no way around the fact that this is another mega-bust on the Angels' part - the third of three years in a row, after Wells and Pujols. At least they didn't make it four years in a row!