Cincinnati Reds give Phillip Ervin a chance to prove himself

With the season ending hand injury to Billy Hamilton, the Cincinnati Reds turn to other options.

The Cincinnati Reds get a preview of what life after Billy Hamilton could look like.  The Reds took offers for the defensive elite center fielder last off-season, but brought him back.  Now, they can see what it could look like next season, if they don’t bring him back.

Leading off, Jesse Winker has picked up the slack.  He is batting .275 with an OBP of .365.  He also has six home runs.

In center field the Reds have split time between Scott Schebler and top prospect Phillip Ervin.  Neither is center fielder by trade, but Ervin has plus speed.  Meanwhile, Schebler has the skill, but may not have the range.

Hamilton had arguably the best season of his career prior to the injury.  While he ended up batting .248 with an OBP of .299, those were some of his lowest numbers for the season.  For most of the season Hamiltion was above.250 with his batting and above .300 in OBP.

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The injury to Hamilton left a hole for Ervin to fill.  Ervin can bat anywhere in line-up.  He has speed and a good batting average  He does lack true home run power.

This is Phillip Ervin’s chance to show the Cincinnati Reds that he deserves to be an everyday starter.

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Since coming up this season, Ervin is batting .300 with an OBP of .364.  He has three steals in four attempts.  He also has nine strikeouts to go with three walks.

Ervin has scored five runs while hitting two home runs.  Ervin has forty at-bats in twenty games.  He isn’t getting everyday playing time.

Ervin is kinda platooning with Winker.  Whichever is in the game is batting lead-off.  That seems fair, but about 80 percent of the MLB starting pitchers are right handed.

The amazing thing is that Ervin has a better batting average with almost identical OBP and slugging percentage numbers as those of Winker’s number.  Playing less frequently, but maintaining offensive consistency is important.  Ervin has done a great job of this considering he started most days in the minors.

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The more that Ervin can play and show what he is about, the better chance he will have to make the team out of spring training next year.  Even if Hamilton doesn’t move on, the Reds may need another bench bat or a replacement for Patrick Kivlehan.  Ervin has the chance to prove himself and must use it.