The New York Mets designated veteran outfielder Billy Hamilton for assignment on Friday, less than a day after he made a costly baserunning mistake against the New York Yankees, according to Steve Gelbs of SNY TV.
Hamilton checked into the bottom of the ninth of Thursday's game as a pinch-runner and the potential tying run. Hamilton then advanced to second on a balk by Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, but he wasn't satisfied. He then attempted to steal third -- "attempted" being the key word, because he was caught stealing for the first out of the frame. The Mets were, predictably, displeased.
"You are at second base with nobody out and you have J.D., [Michael] Conforto and [Todd] Frazier coming up in that order with a one-run deficit," Luis Rojas told reporters, including Mike Puma of the New York Post. "That is something, you have got to let the guys hit in that situation. It's just not good baseball at the time."
The Mets acquired Hamilton from the San Francisco Giants in early August in exchange for pitching prospect Jordan Humphreys. Hamilton appeared in 17 games and took 22 at-bats with the Mets, hitting .045/.083/.045 (-63 OPS+) with one hit and four runs scored. He went 3 for 4 on stolen-base tries, and was thrown out on the basepaths on another occasion.
Humphreys, a right-hander who was designated for assignment before the trade, is considered the 26th-best prospect in the Giants system by MLB.com. He has been limited to two regular-season innings since the end of the 2017 campaign because of elbow troubles. He has a chance to develop three average or better pitches, which could be enough for him to reach the majors in a back-end starter capacity.
The Mets went on to win Thursday in extra innings. J.D. Davis, who was up when Hamilton was thrown out, promptly tied the game with a home run. Pete Alonso then led off the bottom of the 10th with a walk-off two-run homer.
