Twins sign veteran outfielder Billy Hamilton seeking speed and some hits

HOUSTON — When Byron Buxton went on the injured list on Tuesday, catcher Caleb Hamilton was added to replace him. But after two days of watching their outfielders, two of whom are converted infielders, go a combined 3-for-21 (.143) with 10 strikeouts in two games here, they decided to consider a different Hamilton.

Billy Hamilton, a 31-year-old center fielder with 10 years of major league experience, signed a minor league contract on Thursday, but he doesn't figure to spend much time in the Twins' system.

"It's fair to say" that Hamilton was signed to address the Twins' shortage of experienced outfielders, manager Rocco Baldelli said. So Hamilton, who spent the season's first two months with the Mariners' Triple-A team and more recently played 20 games with the Marlins before being waived, will report to Class A Fort Myers so the Twins can evaluate his readiness.

If he is deemed a viable option — no sure thing, given that he batted .191 in the minors and went 1-for-13 (.077) with Miami, and that Kyle Garlick could return to the roster this weekend — he could join the Twins within a week.

Hamilton, a switch hitter, is a career .239 hitter and was runner-up to Jacob deGrom in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2014. He has always known more for his defense and base stealing ability than his hitting, and has stolen 321 bases with an 81.9% success rate for seven teams, including six seasons with the Reds. That's more than any Twin has stolen in franchise history.

"I know I've enjoyed watching him play for a few years. I'm glad we have him," Baldelli said. "He's an experienced, veteran player. … If he's looking good and becomes a good option if everything goes smoothly, then [activating him] is probably a conversation topic at that point."

His Twins teammates have been wearing T-shirts reading "Arraez and Shine" during their pregame warmups at Minute Maid Park, and "I'm very happy about it," Luis Arraez said. Not because he earns a commission — "No money, they just gave me some shirts," Arraez said of the manufacturer — but because it symbolizes the clubhouse unity that he believes is important as the Twins work through their worst losing streak of the season.

At .325 entering Thursday's game, Arraez still leads the American League in batting average, but he hit only .255 over the past two weeks, including an 0-for-15 skid that he broke up with a ninth-inning double on Wednesday. He's still fourth in the AL in multiple-hit games with 39, but hasn't had one in nine days.

Arraez went 0-for-3 Thursday night against Houston, and his average dropped to .322.

"It's hard, difficult. I'm human," Arraez said. "I want to just get on base, but baseball is hard, especially when you face [Justin] Verlander and [Framber] Valdez. Those guys were nasty," he said of the Astros' starters in the series' first two games.

Arraez isn't the only one enduring this offensive drought, of course; the Twins batted .156 during their five-game losing streak through Wednesday. Which is why he appreciated Baldelli's encouragement after Wednesday's loss, when the manager told his team to relax and forget their slump.

"What Rocco said was, you just need to have fun and play baseball. Sometimes we try to do too much," Arraez said. "We've got a fun group, but we want to win, you know. When the team is not winning, we just put in a little extra work."