Remember when Josh Hamilton was the toast of baseball last year? The former No. 1 overall pick who had overcome all his drug demons and climbed not only back to the big leagues but to a superstar level that everyone had originally projected for him?

Last season, his first with the Texas Rangers after a trade from Cincinnati, Hamilton was hitting .310 with 21 homers and 95 RBIs at the All-Star Break. Then he stole the show at the All-Star festivities, launching homer after homer into the night at the old Yankee Stadium (although he didn’t technically win the Home Run Derby).

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But it almost seemed like all those swats took something out of Hamilton's second half of the 2008 season. He hit .296 with 11 homers and 35 RBI post-break, albeit in 130 fewer at-bats than in the first half. But every number was down after his 2008 All Star performance, including slugging and on-base percentage. Was Hamilton just worn down from everything or had big-league pitchers figured him out?

It appears to have been the latter.

This season, Hamilton is hitting .240 with just six homers and 24 RBI. And all those same numbers are down again from last season – slugging, on-base percentage, etc. Yet the Texas Rangers lead the AL West without much production from their top slugger.

And with Hamilton now on the disabled list for the second time this season and potentially staring at two months before he returns, the Rangers really shouldn’t miss him much.

Hamilton was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with an abdominal strain. The team is calling it a similar injury to a sports hernia and hopes Hamilton can avoid surgery, but did not rule out the possibility of surgery, which would mean at least eight weeks of rehab. No decision is likely to come before June 16, when Hamilton is eligible to return. The hope is that the injury responds to rest and anti-inflammatory medication during the DL stint.

However, Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler had a similar injury to Hamilton’s last year and missed six weeks.

"This team has shown a lot of resiliency, and someone has to step up, Rangers manager Ron Washington said to reporters. “I believe someone will."

Hamilton originally hurt himself this time May 17, and since returning to the lineup after a few games out is hitting just .237 with one home run and five RBI. And maybe it’s time for him to go get healthy, because there are replacements who seem like better options right now. For example, both Andrew Jones and David Murphy, the two guys who probably will get most of the playing time in his place, have similar or better numbers than does Hamilton.

When Hamilton went on the DL earlier this season with a strained rib cage, the Rangers went 9-4. Whether Texas hangs on to the AL West lead is another question entirely, but this team won’t tank due to the absence of Hamilton alone.

So don’t jump off that Ranger bandwagon for this reason alone.