Royals: Eric Hosmer Captures First Player of the Week Honor

Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer landed the first American League Player of the Week honor of his career on Monday. It comes at a great time for the soon-to-be free agent.

Eric Hosmer received some well-deserved recognition for the fantastic stretch—and career year—he is having with the Kansas City Royals on Monday. As announced by Joe Trezza of MLB.com, the first baseman took home the American League Player of the Week award for his performance last week.

Over seven games, Hosmer hit .538 with a 1.470 OPS and reached base nine consecutive times against the Minnesota Twins, at one point this past weekend.

Hosmer, 27, is playing his best baseball at the best time (for him), given that he is eligible for free agency for the first time after the season. Along with the ludicrous batting average and OPS, he homered twice among five extra-base hits. He also drove in eight runs.

The tremendous week also helped keep the Kansas City Royals afloat in the playoff race. Thanks to a series win over Detroit and a split with Minnesota, Hosmer and Co. moved to within 2.5 games of the Twins entering the week.

It’s quite impressive that Hosmer and the Kansas City Royals are even in this position.

After enduring a miserable April, right along with his teammates, Hosmer has put up near-MVP-caliber numbers since May 1. For the season, he is hitting .328/.393/.517 with 24 home runs and 85 RBI. That .328 batting average trails only Houston’s Jose Altuve for the AL batting title.

Hosmer’s performance has certainly vaulted him into many fan’s and analyst’s top spot for re-signing priority among the many other potential Kansas City Royals free agents.

A career year like this probably gives Hosmer and his agent—the one and only Scott Boras—the leverage to ask for much, much more than the Kansas City Royals can reasonably pay. However, if we know one thing, it’s never to assume Dayton Moore can’t do something, because that’s exactly when he will.

Next: Royals Still Clinging to Playoff Hopes

Regardless, it is gratifying as a Kansas City Royals fan to see Hosmer get some reward for the amazing offensive production he has provided for the last three-plus months. If this is his going-out party in Kansas City, he’s certainly going out with a bang.