David Hamilton has stolen 10 bases in 12 attempts for the Portland Sea Dogs this season. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
When David Hamilton is on first base, he knows you know he’s likely to steal second. He knows the pitcher is going to give him the attention a mother gives her newborn, and he doesn’t care. Hamilton eyes second base like it’s owed him.
“It’s not going to stop me from going,” Hamilton said. “Some pitchers have tells, but for the most part it’s speed and the best jump. The first 5, 10 yards are the most important, so if you can get a good start speed takes over the rest.”
The Portland Sea Dogs’ regular leadoff hitter, Hamilton enters this week’s six-game series in Bridgewater, New Jersey, against the Somerset Patriots with an Eastern League-leading 10 stolen bases. He has been caught twice. This is coming off a 2021 season in which Hamilton swiped 52 bags while being caught just nine times playing for two teams in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization.
“He’s electric with his feet. It’s amazing how explosive he is with his slides,” said Sea Dogs Manager Chad Epperson of Hamilton. “I joke with him a lot, I’ve seen maybe one above average jump. He even admits he doesn’t have the best jump. When he gets going and gets his timing with that, he’s going to be a huge playmaker … He’s just an ignitor for us at the top of the lineup.”
Hamilton rebounded from a brief o-for-8 slump at the start of last week’s series against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at Hadlock Field to go 4 for 10 the rest of the series. His .327 batting average is second on the Sea Dogs only to catcher Kole Cottam’s .375, and Hamilton’s on-base percentage of .414 is third on the team. Hamilton has a team-high nine runs scored, is tied for the team lead with Hudson Potts with three home runs and leads the Sea Dogs with 13 runs batted in.
“I’m just trying to get on base and jump-start the team. Obviously, I haven’t done that the last two games,” Hamilton said before Portland’s 12-5 win over Binghamton on Thursday night. “My job is to get on base, steal bases and create run opportunities for the guys hitting behind me.”
A sliced right Achilles suffered shortly before the start of his junior season at the University of Texas hasn’t slowed Hamilton down. The injury occurred on Jan. 11, 2019. Driving a motorized scooter downhill at night near campus, Hamilton didn’t see a speed bump. While he rehabbed, Hamilton planned on returning to the Longhorns in 2020. He had been drafted in the 28th round in 2016 out of San Marcos (Texas) High, but chose to go to Texas. Before the injury, Hamilton was a draft prospect, earning all-Big 12 second-team honors as a sophomore shortstop in 2018 and spent some time with Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League that summer.
Still, he thought the injury would scare off pro scouts. Hamilton was surprised when he got the call that the Brewers had selected him in the eighth round of the 2019 draft. Hamilton’s 2018 season, in which he was named second team All-Big 12 after hitting .291 with 44 runs scored and 31 stolen bases in 63 games for the Longhorns, was enough for the Brewers, who saw the potential in a healthy Hamilton.
“I was totally prepared to come back (to Texas). I was grateful,” Hamilton said.
With minor league baseball shut down due the pandemic in 2020, Hamilton played for Team Texas in the independent Constellation Energy League. It was a chance to test his repaired Achilles tendon in live game situations, he said, and get at-bats against pro pitchers. In 27 games, Hamilton hit. 296 with 20 stolen bases without getting caught.
Last season was his first playing for in the Brewers’ organization, and Hamilton split the season between the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Double-A Biloxi Shuckers. On Dec. 1, 2021, just before the lockout began, he was included in the trade that sent Jackie Bradley Jr. back to Boston from Milwaukee for outfielder Hunter Renfroe.
“I got a call around 10:30 at night saying I’d been traded. No one really expects it. It caught me off guard, but I’m happy I’m here. I like the Red Sox so far,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton’s 13 starts this season have been split almost evenly, with seven at second base and six at shortstop. Hamilton said he’s more comfortable playing short simply because that’s where he’s played his entire life, but he knows that versatility can only help his chances to advance to Triple-A Worcester and beyond that, Boston.
“I think he’s very comfortable at both. It’s vital for him right now to continue to get work at both. He’s putting in the work. When the opportunity arises, he’s going to be ready for it for sure,” Epperson said.
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