Jocketty: Hamilton's postseason status TBD

CINCINNATI -- Since his Sept. 3 callup, Reds rookie center fielder and basestealing extraordinaire Billy Hamilton has done nothing to eliminate the belief he should be on the postseason roster next week.

But neither Hamilton nor any other roster bubble candidates are formally locks -- not just yet.

"We have not finalized that. We really haven't," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said on Friday. "We probably won't talk about that until Sunday or Monday."

Hamilton entered Friday with 13 steals in 14 attempts, with his one failed attempt coming Wednesday vs. the Mets. With only 18 at-bats in 12 games, Hamilton was batting .389 with nine runs scored. He's made three starts but has been utilized mainly as a pinch-runner in games where the Reds have been looking for a tying or winning run.

"It's one thing we had to be careful of, to make sure he didn't get overwhelmed," Jocketty said. "He's been very good. He's got great instincts for the game. He's a great athlete."

As for the rest of the playoff roster, the Reds only know they will play in the National League Wild Card game on Tuesday. The roster can be adjusted if they advance to the NL Division Series.

"We take it one step at a time," Jocketty said. "We look at the playoff game for Tuesday first, but you look ahead, somewhat. You focus on what we need to do for Tuesday, because we can change it again. We've got a pretty good idea of what we want to do."

Cincinnati seemingly would not include many pitchers from the starting rotation on the Wild Card roster. Mat Latos is considered to be the likely starter in the game.

"The one-game series will obviously be different than in the NLDS," Jocketty said.