Eric Hosmer's Brutal Season Discussion

[ballerskrip]

So, Eric Hosmer was the toast of the off season. Everyone, including me thought he was going to be a monster this year. But then something happened, he actually had to play the games.

He has hit .233 with 10 home runs and 47 Rbi. To put these numbers into perspective, he has been outperformed by Mike Morse in the half the games, Paul Goldschmidt, among many others.

From a fantasy perspective, he is 39th, yes 39th among 1b eligible players in production.

So what the heck has gone wrong? I haven't been able to see many of his games, so I would love to hear from some of the Royals fans on here who have see him more often?

Is he having some form of off field issues?

Discuss!

 

[markakis8]

I haven't gotten to watch many games of his - in fact I've only watched him bat vs. the Orioles. He just seems lost from the small handful at-bats that I saw. Late on EVERYTHING. Not sure if it's mental at this point.

Like you, I thought he was going to have a monster year and I really thought if he put together an MVP type season and the SP was there, the Royals were going to contend. I know that sounds crazy but they have such a great group of young players and Hosmer is the main key to their success, IMO.

I hope he takes this season and learns from it. I honestly have no idea what the problem is - like I said, I've only watched about 20-25 at bats of his. I remember seeing about 5 broken at bats though, so that can't be good.

 

[scotty216brs]

His strikeout rate isn't terrible for such a poor season, and his home/away splits are similar...looks like he just needs to do better against RHP. Maybe next season he will figure it out.


What was his MLB statline prediction when he was in the minors?

 

[matchpenalty]

anybody going to start buying him again

 

[ballerskrip]

anybody going to start buying him again

Not me....

 

[ThoseBackPages]

I'd have his 2008 Bowman Chrome

 

[HPC]

Now is a good time to buy.

I could definitely see him being sent down next season or even starting in AAA if he cant produce during spring training.

Look at Rizzo, called up and sucked. Sent down and called up again and now hes kicking ass

 

[markakis8]

Now is a good time to buy.

I could definitely see him being sent down next season or even starting in AAA if he cant produce during spring training.

Look at Rizzo, called up and sucked. Sent down and called up again and now hes kicking ass

It really comes down to adjustments. All he has to know is how he is frequently being pitched and go from there. It sounds easy, I know but some hitters cannot grasp that.

 

[WaxPax]

Didn't a board member buy a 2011 BC Red Refractor a while back and was hoping to flip it ....I can't see that ending well at this point

Now is a good time to buy.

I could definitely see him being sent down next season or even starting in AAA if he cant produce during spring training.

Look at Rizzo, called up and sucked. Sent down and called up again and now hes kicking ass

 

[Frow]

Now is a good time to buy.

I could definitely see him being sent down next season or even starting in AAA if he cant produce during spring training.

Look at Rizzo, called up and sucked. Sent down and called up again and now hes kicking ass

That's not going to happy and a bit silly to say. Even if his numbers are down he is producing at a major league level and there's nothing to be gained by sending him down and him.Rizzo are in completely different boats as Hosmer has already had success before and now has 2 full seasons under his belt. He's also one of the better fielding 1B out there and I would love having him over there even if he's not producing than to trot Billy Butler out there every night.

From what I've seen he has two problems. 1) Hasn't learned to hit them where they ain't 2) Tries to pull everything. A lot of the games you see a pitch on the outside part of the plate, he tries to pull it and gets a pop up or a weak grounder.

 

[jcmint]

with the hosmer chromes being shortprinted really didnt help buyers out at all. Hosmer will have to hit 50hrs for those prices to get that high again.

 

[nborton]

with the hosmer chromes being shortprinted really didnt help buyers out at all. Hosmer will have to hit 50hrs for those prices to get that high again.

Yep. I was never on board with the crazy high prices because of the added SP factor. Being a short print made the buy in higher than normal. I still think he has a chance to be really good, but in the baseball collecting world it might be too late.

 

[Topnotchsy]

His Chrome Auto's still get $250 in auction. I would not get near those.

Frow - hard to say he's producing at an MLB level when his OPS+ is 82, and that's playing a position where are supposed to hit. He's young and has plenty of time to turn it around, but he's a liability at the plate at the moment.

 

[arod305]

Didn't Hos hit the most hr in spring training as well? Not saying it matter from his obvious poor production but still interesting

 

[Frow]

His Chrome Auto's still get $250 in auction. I would not get near those.

Frow - hard to say he's producing at an MLB level when his OPS+ is 82, and that's playing a position where are supposed to hit. He's young and has plenty of time to turn it around, but he's a liability at the plate at the moment.

It's higher than Michael Young's At the moment it's a moot point, there are 2-3 weeks left in the minor leagues and there's no one that they can plug in there that needs the work more. He gets to play everyday and his numbers are getting better. The entire team had a crappy July and in August and specifically the past week it's been looking better.

 

[PeteD]

Smells like a (or multiple) nagging injury that's not disabling him, but bothering enough to affect his play.

 

[scotty216brs]

Just hit a HR tonight...turning the corner?

 

[jcmint]

Right into mediorceville

Just hit a HR tonight...turning the corner?

 

[markakis8]

Let me preface by saying, I have no Hosmer autos (I might have some Hosmer cards in my store, but nothing big). I have this FEELING...he'll make a Heyward-like adjustment and dominate RHP and struggle vs LHP in 2013...and continue to flourish from there. I just see the talent. I could be wrong.

There is still hope for them both, IMO. I think they both can be superstars/perennial all-stars. They just need to make the adjustments.

 

[craftysouthpaw]

How many times are people going to write off 21 and 22 year old kids because they aren't Ted Williams or Albert Pujols the minute they come into the league? We had this same thread this year with Stanton and Heyward and I'll say the same thing now. Talent and tools play. Just have some patience. Same with Harper. None of those four guys are like the Corey Patterson's of the prospecting world in that they all have average or better plate discipline. And they aren't pitchers. Injuries and plate discipline are the two most likely issues to cause a top ranked prospect to flop.

This does create a great buying opportunity though so I guess I should hope people continue to jump off the bandwagon of these guys. Once we hit around 3 years of poor performance, reasonable conversations can be had if guys are a bust.