Who has Mayor Wu requested a meeting with today?
Welcome back to the Mayor’s Office, our weekly series in which Jake Wallinger sends one naughty member of Red Sox Nation to Mayor Michelle Wu’s office for discipline, public shaming, and penance as we all strive to build a stronger baseball team and city.
This week, it’s the newly-demoted David Hamilton emptying his pockets to head through the metal detectors at City Hall.
After finishing the 2024 season with a 2.6 bWAR, a .697 OPS, and 33 stolen bases, it was not unreasonable to expect some big things out of Red Sox infielder David Hamilton in 2025.
Having now arrived in July of 2025, it would seem fair to say that Mr. Hamilton has not met those expectations (That might be putting it lightly).
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
As of July 10th, in 133 plate appearances, Dave has a triple slash of .179/.229/.276, all between .80 and .100 points lower than last year’s marks. He’s even stealing bases at a lower rate than last year, though you can’t steal first, so that one at least makes some sense.
It’s unclear exactly what is causing this drastic downswing in production. Under the hood, most of Dave’s percentages are worse, though only marginally. His walk rate fell to 5.3% from 6.9% and his average exit velocity dropped a few ticks from 85.8 to 83.2. There isn’t much here that would signal a near .200 point drop in OPS. That is, until one takes a look at Dave’s batting average on balls in play, down a staggering .103 points from .316 to .213.
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Something terrifying to think about is the trades that the Red Sox were reportedly offered for Hamilton last winter (discussed on the WEEI radio broadcast earlier this season by Will Flemming and Will Middlebrooks). Of course, the book is not completely closed on Dave. He’s only 27 and has had success in the big leagues, but for at least the 2025 team, almost anything would have offered more value than Mr. Hamilton has. It’s easy to let one’s mind wander when thinking of hypothetical trades, and no concrete offers were ever reported, but it is something.
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
One silver lining for Dave (unlike the subject of last week’s piece: Walker Buehler) is that he has options. Rather than cutting bait completely, the Red Sox have sent Dave right down I-90 to try and figure things out in the magical city of Worcester. Sometimes, steady playing time and the lack of big league pressure can do a man wonders. Hopefully that ends up being the case for our boy Dave here. Unfortunately, with Alex Bregman on the way back, it seems Dave’s time in Boston is running out.
Mr. Hamilton, Mayor Wu will see you now.
Photo by Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images