Hamilton on lineup drop: 'Got to roll with it'

Bryan Price had made the lineup Sunday morning as players trickled into the clubhouse, but it hadn't been posted. The Reds manager wanted Billy Hamilton to hear the news from him before telling his center fielder that he was moving from the leadoff spot to the No. 8 spot in the lineup.

"I wanted to talk to him about my expectations moving forward before he walked in," Price said before the Reds' 9-8 loss to the Giants. "That's pretty dramatic considering he's hit leadoff every single game I've had him here in the regular season. I just wanted to sit him down and talk to him before we posted the lineup."

As for Hamilton, he understood.

"You've got to roll with it. When you're playing like I'm playing, you can't do anything about it," Hamilton said. "It's not going to put me in a bad situation – my confidence is still there. It's a spot in the lineup. I'm still happy to just be in the lineup. It's been tough this year so far and everything, but it's his decision. If I was playing better, it would be way different. I can't say anything about it the way I'm playing, I've just got to deal with it."

Hamilton also thought it may help alleviate the pressure of batting leadoff.

"Putting me down there, I can just go there and hit and not worry about being the leadoff man. It's tough batting leadoff," Hamilton said. "I was talking to [Zack Cozart] about it yesterday. You have to do so much stuff and everything. It doesn't bother me. I'm just happy to be in the lineup. I will come in and get the same work in, do the same thing I've been doing and try to get better and be a better player."

Of Hamilton's 172 starts in the big leagues before Sunday, 171 were in the leadoff spot. He batted ninth in his first career start, Sept. 18, 2013, at Houston.

Hamilton entered Sunday hitting just .212/.264/.336 this season. Hamilton also struggled after the All-Star break last season, hitting just .254/.257/.511 in the second half. In his first game in the eight spot, Hamilton was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

"There's this whole thing we're always saying with Billy, 'You go, we go.' It really shouldn't be that way — when we're going, it's because we're all going," Price said. "I think it'd be really nice to have Billy doing some things down at the bottom, maybe helping set the table for the top of the order. The way Zack's been swinging the bat, Pena, leading to Joey, Frazier, Byrd, Brandon, et cetera. It could be a good thing. I'm certainly optimistic it will be."

Price said he expects Hamilton to stay at the bottom of the order for the near future, but not in the long-term.

"This is by no means representative of where my thoughts of where his future lies," Price said. "I think he's inevitably going to be an outstanding leadoff man. Until he really gets comfortable with his offensive game, I think he's better suited where he's at right now."

STARTER STRUGGLES: Right-handers Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias are currently in the bullpen as an attempt to help shave some innings off of their season. The two young pitchers have pitched well and their turns in the bullpen are merely to save innings.

However, Price said if he doesn't get better outings from the rest of the rotation, Lorenzen and Iglesias could find their way back sooner rather than later.

"You don't want to fall out of this thing and go into a free fall without getting the best you have available to you," Price said. "I think if we're going to be competitive, we're going to have to get the best we can out of our pitching staff, and who those 12 guys are, there are still some question marks. That's speaking the obvious, that's not trying to make anyone nervous. We haven't had the consistency out of our pitching when we broke camp. And we're asking a lot out of the young guys to keep us in this race."

PARRA CLOSE: Left-hander Manny Parra has started throwing off the mound again, but tenderness in his elbow has slowed his comeback. He was placed on the disabled list on April 29 with a strained neck.

The elbow has been checked out and is fine, Reds manager Bryan Price said, but it has delayed his comeback.

"It's part of the aches and pains of throwing the baseball," Price said. "He's getting very close to being back pitching again."

Parra threw off a mound on Friday and Price said he'd like to see him throw one or two more bullpens before he would pitch in a game, mostly likely in a rehab stint in the minors.

RULES ARE RULES: Price came out to talk with the umpires in the eighth inning after Joey Votto's double that went into the camera well on the third-base side. While Brayan Pena was allowed to score, Votto was held at third.

Price went out to talk to second base umpire Dan Bellino about the call, and was reassured it was the right call.

"The rule is, that once the ball leaves the hand of the defender, where the baserunner is positioned at that point," Price said. "When I'm going out there, Joey obviously was around second base as the ball went into the dugout, but he wasn't to second base as the throw was being released. It's very clear-cut in the rules, there's really no room to argue. It was clear-cut on the video, I needed clarification on that to make sure I had it right. And to make sure the video supported the fact that he was not yet past the base when the ball was being thrown."