Kansas City Royals Eric Hosmer Is The Next….???
By Bob Ellis
Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
So…1,000 words later…which of these guys does Hosmer compare to, really? Well…maybe none of them. Or maybe all of them. They all got off to much faster and more consistent starts than Hosmer. We still really don’t know what Hosmer is, exactly. But, I’d say he’s an amalgamation of Hernandez and Clark if you forced me to pick one (or I guess two – Eric Clarknandez?). He’s got the defensive prowess of Hernandez and potentially the on-base skills as well. Hosmer’s going to hit for a lot more power than Hernandez, though. Hernandez had 162 career homers and Hosmer already has 63.
That said…will Hosmer have power like Will Clark? I don’t think we’ll see anything quite like Clark’s early run, but maybe not too far off that mark. In 2015, Hosmer is homering once every 26 at bats. Assuming he racks up 600 at bats this year, that puts him on pace for 25 homers.
Comparing this pace to his other seasons, we see he homered every 27.5 AB in 2011, every 28 AB in 2012, every 36.6 AB in 2013, and every 55.8 AB in 2014. So he’s been on a downward trend since his rookie year, until now. He’s currently homering at the best clip (just barely) of his career. That could translate into even more power as heads into his prime, or 2015 could be an anomaly. Next year, Hosmer could hit 14 homers for all we know.
In the end…if Hosmer’s time with the Kansas City Royals looks at all similar to what any of these guys did when at their best…I think we’d all be pretty happy, right?