Billy Hamilton working on strength, bunting, contact

Billy Hamilton has spent the offseason in Atlanta working with Louisville manager Delino DeShields, the Reds' resident bunting and base-stealing expert.

"We're working a lot on bunting and making contact," Hamilton said at the kickoff of the Reds Caravan this morning. "I struck out way too much."

Hamilton has not played Winter Ball for the first time as a professional. The emphasis has been on strength and conditioning.

Hamilton hit .250 overall last season, but his splits were drastic: .285 in the first half; .200 in the second half.

"All we can do is speculate that his second half of the season was just getting used to playing in the bigs for the full season," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I certainly think strength certainly February through October is important. Getting stronger, getting re-acquainted with acumen for bunting, getting more balls hit on the ground, more hard line drives, instead of balls in the air."

Hamilton stole 56 bases last year, but he was caught an MLB-high 23 times. Getting his percentage up will be a point of emphasis.

"I think it's just education," Price said. "The thing about being a young, confident player is feeling like there's not a situation where you can't be successful. Even though the percentages are always going to be in his favor, there are always going to be better opportunities, better pitches to run against. That will be part of education."