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Great speed Alex Bregman Jersey , but a low on-base percentage."& Hot StoveRoyals Minor Leagues & ProspectsRoyals Review ClassicRoyals Review Users GuideThe 100 Greatest Royals Of All TimeRoyals Trade Rumors & Hot StoveRoyals “looking hard” at outfielder Billy HamiltonNew,37commentsGreat speed, but a low on-base percentage.ByMax RieperDec6, 2018,2:41pm ESTShareTweetShareShareRoyals “looking hard” at outfielder Billy HamiltonDavid Kohl-USA TODAY SportsThe Royals are “looking hard” at free agent centerfielder Billy Hamilton, according to Rustin Dodd of The Athletic. The switch-hitter was non-tendered by the Reds last week after hitting .236/.299/.327 with 34 steals in 153 games. MLB.com reporter Jeffrey Flanagan expounded on the Royals’ interest in the 28-year old speedster, writing “there is a feeling with Royals officials that Hamilton’s skill set might play better at spacious Kauffman Stadium as opposed to the Reds’ band box of Great American Ball Park.”The switch-hitting Hamilton is perhaps the fastest man in baseball, stealing 254 bases in just over five seasons with an 81% success rate. He was fifth in Statcast’s Sprint Speed last year. Hamilton is a tremendous defender, ranking as the fourth-best defensive centerfielder according to Fangraphs last year. He has been a solid 1-3 WAR player each season of his career, mostly on the strength of his speed and defense.His bat is another matter. His best offensive season was in 2016 when he hit .260/.321/.343 with 58 steals. He was the third-worst qualified hitter in baseball by wRC+ last season, with Alcides Escobar-like numbers. He has a career .298 on-base percentage, with abelow-average career walk rate of 6.9%. Hamilton has the fifth-lowest hard-hit rate in baseball since his debut in 2014. He has been a better hitter from the left-side of the plate, although with less power than from the right-side. The Royals already have Brett Phillips and Brian Goodwin projected to split time in centerfield next year, but Phillips does have an option year remaining and could be sent to Omaha for more seasoning. Hamilton was arbitration eligible, and MLB Trade Rumors projected him to earn $5.9 million. Through free agency, I would expect Hamilton to cost $5-6 million on a one-year deal. Hamilton’s bat prevents him from being a full-time player anymore http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , but he could have value in a part-time role, especially if they Royals get creative. The best case scenario is that Hamilton continues to be an elite base-stealer and defender that has a bit of value this summer, and the Royals flip him to a contender. The worst case scenario is that he blocks 24-year old outfielder Brett Phillips in a season in which the Royals need to figure out what they have in their young players. Either way, if the Royals bring him on, it may not win games or help the rebuild, but it sure would be fun to see him, Adalberto Mondesi, and Whit Merrifield flying around the bases. The first two innings of this game dragged. And then..."MESA, Arizona — I’ve written a lot on this site about the pace of play in Major League Baseball and the Commissioner’s office has made it an important part of their message.The pace of the first two innings of the Cubs’ 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks was awful. There were, combined: five hits, six walks, two errors and nine runs scored, and those two innings took 90 minutes. But then, the rest of the game flew by, seven innings in a hour and 57 minutes. At one point, 14 straight Cubs were retired Brian McCann Jersey , before the sub Cubs got a pair of runners on base in the ninth before Jacob Hannemann and Ryan Court struck out to end it (and a couple of the called strikes, frankly, weren’t, but I think plate umpire Rob Drake had had enough).Now, let’s get back to the beginning of this game. Jason Heyward, in the original starting lineup, was scratched:There’s no further information available about J-Hey.The rest of the important stuff about the first two innings involved Yu Darvish. Darvish was throwing hard, hitting 95 consistently and 96 occasionally with his fastball. His command was a little off, and he issued four walks. After the fourth walk, with one out in the second inning, he was removed in favor of minor leaguer Scott Effross. Effross allowed a single and a run-scoring sacrifice fly, and then he should have been out of the inning, but Kris Bryant made a throwing error that allowed a run to score, and then Wilmer Flores doubled in the runs that would prove to be the eventual winning tallies.This was after the Cubs pushed across four runs in the first inning off Zack Godley, who didn’t even finish the inning. Albert Almora Jr. led off with a double, and after a walk Anthony Rizzo singled him in. Two batters later a D-backs error resulted in two more Cubs runs http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , and Addison Russell drove in the fourth run. Russell, incidentally, was cheered when he was introduced, with just a couple of scattered boos.But the story of the game was Darvish. Here’s video I shot of his bullpen warmup.And here’s the last out of the first inning, a pitch by Darvish that was hit a long way, but run down by Almora:One thing Darvish will definitely have to work on is the pitch clock. Had it been set for violations, he’d have committed several. He was working very slowly. But his velocity was good, and:And, he’s been using more English, around his teammates and the media:Showing a sense of humor, too. I cannot tell you how much I am rooting for Yu Darvish to have a big comeback season in 2019. I thought that even with all the walks, he threw pretty well, and, most importantly:The rest of this game was pretty dull. After the second inning, miscellaneous Cubs relievers allowed just two hits and three walks. Here’s a nice catch made by Johnny Field on a sinking liner by Yasmany Tomas in the seventh inning:And even though this game ran 3:27 and the Cubs (or at least a bunch of their non-roster guys) lost, it was a pleasant afternoon at Sloan Park Tyler Clippard Jersey , with temperatures reaching the low 70s. Attendance was 10,666, bringing the season total for three dates to 35,371, an average of 11,790 per date.We have yet to see several relievers who will definitely be in the Opening Day bullpen, including Carl Edwards Jr., Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek and Brad Brach. Perhaps Wednesday, when the Cubs will travel to Surprise to face the Rangers. Cole Hamels will face his former team in his first start of the spring, and Texas will go with Edinson Volquez. Game time Wednesday is 2:05 p.m. CT. No TV Wednesday, audio-only on cubs.com.