whatever happened to …

Joey Butler was hitting .347 on June 13. A few days later, the Pascagoula native hit his sixth home run in just his 40th game of the season with Tampa Bay. On July 1, he broke up a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. And, well, there are few highlights since. Butler, a 29-year-old rookie who had cups of coffee with Texas and St. Louis before this season, is still on the Rays’ roster. But his productivity and playing time have been in a slow fade. He got just eight hits in July, five in August and is 1-for-9 in September. He was even sent back to Triple-A for a time. All in all, Butler has had a good year, batting .269 with six homers, 24 RBIs and five steals in 86 games. He is said to be a great guy in the clubhouse. And the team (76-81) was 31-28 in his starts, which is something the Rays might want to remember as they plan for 2016. P.S. Former Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton had shoulder surgery on Tuesday and now faces 4-6 weeks of rehab. Reports say he will work on “hitting and bunting” this off-season in California. In his second full season with Cincinnati, Hamilton hit .226 (.274 on-base percentage) with an MLB-best 57 stolen bases.