A goal I have now set for myself is to reach a high enough level as a sports writer to have the privilege of being in attendance when Eric Hosmer delivers his Hall of Fame speech. Thank you for the inspiration, Eric.
Anointing Hosmer a future Hall-of-Famer in just over a hundred major league at bats might be premature, but that's how good the 21-year-old has been in his short stint with the Royals. I'm hardly the first one to have this notion concerning Hosmer. National pundit Joe Sheehan shared similar feelings on Hosmer on his podcast with Royals blogger, Rany Jazayerli. It's not just Hosmer's .291/.327/.515 line that impresses, but it's the timely hitting-- he seems so comfortable with runners in scoring position as evidenced by his 17 RBIs-- as well as the flurry of spectacular defensive plays that will surely challenge Mark Teixeira's gold glove status in the coming years.
In roughly a month I believe Hosmer has established himself as the best player on the Royals. He has immediately upgraded the defense and at the same time has become a staple in the lineup--quickly asserting himself as the clubs' number three hitter. And make no mistake Hosmer becoming the number three hitter is a big deal seeing as though the Dayton Moore Royals have had little to no success with hitters positioned in that spot. Generally you would like your best overall hitter to be in the three hole and it helps if he has some power, as Hosmer does.
Butler hit in the three spot the past couple seasons, while Jose Guillen was horrendously occupying the cleanup position, and did an admirable job in doing so. However, Butler's tendency to hit the ball on the ground coupled with his not so fleet of foot provided double plays at a league high pace. Butler also lacks elite power thus far in his career and you would like to have the kind that Hosmer will can provide in that position. To be fair to Butler he never had a leadoff guy in front of him that came close to adequately working counts or having a high OBP--something that escaped a lot of hitters under Trey Hillman. Although, it's hard to develop as a leadoff hitter when you know there's a good chance you could be hitting second, third, or even sixth depending on the day--David Dejesus anyone?
It's the general belief that the Royals brought up Hosmer before the Super Two deadline because they saw a chance to compete in a weak AL Central this season. The Royals trailed only the Indians who had and still do have the best record in the American League--but they most likely did not anticipate them to keep up their hot start. It is clear the Royals won't compete for anything this season, but bringing up Hosmer was not a mistake by any means. He was putting up video-game numbers in AAA-- actually I'm not even sure I could put up those numbers in a video game--and was obviously ready to be challenged by big league pitching.
Hosmer hasn't disappointed and has been as good as advertised, which is a rare thing for me to say as a Royals fan who is use to seeing hot-shot prospects flounder at the big league level for at least a season. The Royals are no doubt a better ball club with Hosmer on the roster and having him up for 3/4 of this season will make him all the better when they figure to compete for the division next season.
So far the Royals have been rewarded when calling up prospects from the greatest farm system ever. They have seen immediate results from not only Hosmer, but the likes of Aaron Crow, Tim Collins and most recently, Danny Duffy. Hosmer and Duffy represent the beginning of their loaded respective groups. It is expected that AAA teammate and fellow corner mate, Mike Moustakas will join Hosmer and the Royals at some point before the trading deadline. And, although Mike Montgomery has struggled this season in AAA, he is the crown jewel of the young minor league arms and is also expected to be up at some point before the season is over.
It will be a small sample of what awaits the Royals the next several years, but if they yield results anything close to what Hosmer, Crow and Duffy have already provided, then Royals baseball is about to get exciting for the first time in my life--it only took 22 years.
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