Yes, by and large, the 2023 season for the Yankees was tough to watch. Yet we shouldn’t ignore some of the bright spots, one of whom was Ian Hamilton who came out of nowhere to be a very good relief pitcher and a key part of a very good bullpen.
Hamilton was an 11th round draft pick of the White Sox in 2016, then subsequently waived three times by three different organizations, and not resigned by a fourth. Over that span he pitched so infrequently he still maintained his rookie status as a 28-year-old entering the 2023 season.
After signing with the Yankees, by and large to fill any of the numerous spots vacated by injured bullpen arms, Hamilton impressed in his first appearance, a scoreless 1.2 IP against the Phillies in a Yankee win on April 3rd. He’d go on to throw 58 innings on the season and be not just one of the better relievers on the Yankees but a much better than average reliever league wide.
Among his teammates Hamilton’s 3.30 xFIP and 1.1 fWAR were both second to Clay Holmes on the team while his 29.1% K rate led the Yanks bullpen. When compared to the rest of the league, among 157 relievers with at least 50 IP in 2023, the xFIP ranked at the 85th percentile and the K% came in at the 78th percentile, with a better than average K%-BB%.
Showing an outstanding ability to avoid hard contact (94th percentile in average exit velocity allowed), miss bats (94th percentile in whiff rate) and keep the ball on the ground (92nd percentile in GB rate) Hamilton was also fun to watch, in part because of the simplicity of his approach.
There were no secrets or surprises when Hamilton pitched. He was going to throw the slider down and away, the sinker down and in (to righties, the reverse for lefties) and the fastball at the top of the zone. Pretty much exactly what you want out of a reliever: Come in the game, be aggressive, throw good strikes.
The Yankees as an organization often receive credit for their ability to find unheralded bullpen arms – to be clear, that’s not the compliment that people believe it to be if you think it through. That said, Hamilton deserves a ton of credit (and congratulations) on a great season.
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