Eric Hosmer’s Stubbornness May Hurt the Royals

On Sunday, Eric Hosmer was hit in the right hand, causing a bruise that forced him to miss the first two games of the Royals series with the Chicago White Sox. He returned to the lineup on Wednesday, but just did not look comfortable in the batter’s box, going 0-2 with a sacrifice fly, ending his 16 game hitting streak. His hand was painful enough where Hosmer was lifted in the eighth inning for Billy Butler, who finished the game at first base.

Last night, Hosmer was once again out of the lineup, as he had aggravated his bruised hand after talking Ned Yost into letting him into the lineup the previous day. Butler once again started at first, with Nori Aoki as the Royals designated hitter. With an important four game series against the Cleveland Indians, the Royals would be better off having their hottest hitter in the lineup.

Instead, Eric Hosmer’s bruised hand has gotten worse due to his insistence that he was ready to play the other day. While it is certainly admirable that Hosmer wanted to fight through the pain and be in the lineup, that refusal to listen to Yost, and Yost’s subsequent acquiescence to those demands, may have delayed when Hosmer will be healthy. Instead of missing one game in order to make certain that the hand is fine, Hosmer may end up missing more time.

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Even if Hosmer misses just the one game, the fact of the matter remains that this situation is just a microcosm of what appears to be an ongoing issue with the Royals. Ned Yost simply does not seem to have any actual control of this team, as the laid back, country club atmosphere he fosters has seemingly not produced any tangible results. Instead, that atmosphere has produced an underachieving ballclub filled with disappointments throughout the lineup.

With the Royals fighting for their playoff relevancy at this point, they need Eric Hosmer in the lineup. They need the player who has been their best hitter over the month of July. With the Royals struggles to score runs even with him in the lineup, losing Hosmer for an extended period of time would be severely detrimental to their hopes for the postseason.

The Royals need Eric Hosmer in the lineup. With Hosmer’s stubbornness, and Yost’s inability to stand up to his players, Hosmer may end up hurting the Royals with his absence. Should the hand injury be worsened to the point where Hosmer needs a stint on the disabled list, this would just be another instance of how Yost has failed the Royals yet again.