C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

'I'm going to bunt way more than I did last year,' Hamilton said.

Hamilton was moved from leadoff to the No. 9 spot last May

Hamilton stayed in Cincinnati this offseason to work with Billy Hatcher

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — There’s no question in Billy Hamilton’s mind. He’s a leadoff hitter.

“That’s my home, I don’t want to hit nowhere else,” Hamilton said following Wednesday’s workout at the Reds' spring training complex. “I don’t want to hit two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or nine — I just want to hit one.”

That’s not selfish, Hamilton says, and it’s not pride. It’s a belief. A belief that he can be better than he has been in his first two years in the big leagues.

Speed, the trademark of the prototypical leadoff man, has never been a question for Hamilton. On-base percentage, what has come to be even more valued in the player that has the most at-bats on a team, has been.

Last year, Hamilton managed just a .274 on-base percentage, down from .292 the year before. That inability to get on base cost him that leadoff spot. After 33 games last year, he was hitting just .212/.264/.336 and he was moved down to the bottom of the order, hitting eighth and ninth by Reds manager Bryan Price.

“The way I was playing, he should have done it,” Hamilton said looking back on 2015, his second full season in the big leagues. “It’s something you can’t get mad about, I just have to go out there and show leadoff is my spot.”

He’ll get that chance again in 2016, Price said on Wednesday.

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“He’ll hit leadoff with a lot of optimism from his coaching staff and front office that he can handle that job and continue to grow into it,” Price said. “If we have to make any adjustments, I’ll make those adjustments. But he’s going to get every shot to be the leadoff guy.”

Hamilton earned that shot in part because of the work he did this offseason, staying in Cincinnati for the first time to work alongside third base coach Billy Hatcher, as well as teammates Devin Mesoraco, J.J. Hoover and Brandon Phillips, who also spend their offseasons in Cincinnati.

“I think that shows a definite sign of commitment and maturity, and a willingness to say, ‘Hey, what I’m doing isn’t working to the degree that I’m satisfied with.’ I’m talking about Billy himself,” Price said. “Certainly we believe he has a much higher ceiling offensively than he’s reached to this point and that he needs to address it in an aggressive fashion. I think he’s done that. I don’t know what the results are going to be. I’m optimistic they’re going to be better than what we’ve seen – fewer balls in the air. He’s offensively a work in progress, and I anticipate better things this year.”

Price isn’t alone. Mesoraco watched as he worked alongside Hamilton at Great American Ball Park. He and Hamilton worked on hitting throughout the spring, hitting together along with Hatcher.

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“I hit with Billy all offseason, and I expect Billy to be better,” Mesoraco said. “I really think — the thing about Billy is I’ve seen him be an unbelievable leadoff guy, taking pitches, getting on base. Obviously stealing bases. But I’ve seen him do it and I know that he can. This is a big year for him to be able to go out there and I do expect Billy to go out and be better.”

Hamilton said he and Hatcher not only worked on the physical approach — his hands, bunting and such — but also the mental side. Hatcher showed him just how many times he hit the ball where, how many times he popped up and to where and why he was and wasn’t being successful.

“We really sat down and went over all that stuff,” Hamilton said. “I have a plan and I just have to put it together.”

Part of that plan includes more bunting, Hamilton said.

The fastest player in the game had 12 bunt hits on 29 attempts, according to Baseball-Reference.com, good for a .414 average in those cases. That was up from .341 a year before (15 or 44).

Hamilton’s plan, for now, is for the attempts to be much higher.

He simply said, “I’m going to bunt way more than I did last year.” Part of that philosophy is that if he is trying to bunt more, he’ll be swinging less — and swinging at fewer bad pitches.

Of course, he still has to hit well enough to keep third and first basemen from playing on top of him and cutting off the bunt attempts.

“My main thing is to hit well enough to keep them back some and bunt well enough to keep them in so I can get some hits by them,” Hamilton said. “I have a plan and I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes. It’s simple. I’ve got to make it simple. It sounds simple. It sounds easy to do, now I’ve just got to go out and do it.”

Regardless of where he bats in the order, Price said Hamilton is his center fielder. That is not in question.

“Is he a leadoff man or is he better suited to hitting someplace in the lineup? That, to me, is the only question that’s left to answer,” Price said. “He is a difference-making defender. And you have those middle of the diamond guys that can defend. Historically, baseball has looked at the corner infield and corner outfield spots to provide the bulk of the offense. I just think Billy’s a game-changer defensively. For me, it’s not a question of if he’s a major-league player. It’s if we’re still defining him as a leadoff man.”

That question won’t be answered in spring. It’ll be answered down the road — even if it’s already answered in Hamilton’s mind.

“I know for a fact I’m a leadoff hitter,” he said. “I hate hitting last — not to be selfish, but I hate it. I hate hitting last, it’s just not where I want to be at. I have to prove myself and I’m going to show them that I deserve to hit in the leadoff spot and that’s where I want to be.”