Bizarro world of baseball: Billy Hamilton powers up, Miguel Cabrera finds another gear

This was not a typical Memorial Day weekend. Chilly and rainy weather across much of the USA made it seem more like late fall than the unofficial kickoff of summer. 

The oddities extended to the baseball diamond on Sunday … with some interesting occurrences that you don't see every day. 

Chicago White Sox outfielder Billy Hamilton is not known as a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination. Entering the weekend, he had exactly one home run over the past three seasons — and just 23 total over his nine-year career.

However, the speedster turned into a slugger on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles with his first dinger of the year and then followed it up on Sunday with another one.

Two homers in two days! @BillyHamilton is a power hitter. 💪 pic.twitter.com/Hir8lEfYxY

Hamilton's 367-foot shot left the bat with an exit velocity of 103.8 mph at a launch angle of 26 degrees. And yes, that fits MLB's definition of a "barrel." In fact, it was only his second official barrel since the 2018 season. 

Who could have imagined in spring training that by Memorial Day, Hamilton would have more home runs for the White Sox than Eloy Jimenez AND Luis Robert … combined? 

Miggy's motorin'

Detroit Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera is not known as a fast runner by any stretch of the imagination. But in the first inning of the Tigers' game against the New York Yankees, he did something he hadn't done since 2019: He came all the way around from first base to score on a double — in the process, ignoring the advice of third base coach Chip Hale.

Source: Read Full Article