Cubs sign legendary base stealer to be secret weapon in the playoffs originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Chicago Cubs are looking for every advantage they can get as the postseason looms.
One area they’ve made a last-minute investment in? Base stealing.
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The Cubs recently signed veteran Billy Hamilton, one of the best swipers of this generation.
Hamilton is currently at Triple-A Iowa, where the wheels clearly still work:
Hamilton hasn’t played in the majors since 2023.
He originally broke in with the Cincinnati Reds, for whom he played six seasons.
After that, Hamilton bounced around to the White Sox, Royals, Braves, Marlins, Twins, Mets and Cubs.
He stole 56 or more bases in four consecutive seasons from 2014 through 2017. But he never quite had the hitting ability to go with his prodigious speed.
Hamilton is a career .239 hitter with a .617 OPS.
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But the Cubs aren’t looking at him to hit. They’re looking at him to take those uber-important extra bases, akin to Dave Roberts in the 2004 ALCS for the Red Sox.
Hamilton is certainly capable of that.
Can the Cubs afford to give a roster spot to such a specialist? We’ll see what they actually decide to do when playoff rosters come out.
But it’s an intriguing idea, for sure.
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