San Diego Padres

Eric Hosmer: “The Papo Effect”

7 years ago Jeff Weber

Credit: AP Photo

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On February 19, 2018, the San Diego Padres made a long-term investment, signing the free agent star first baseman. Eric Hosmer, 28-years-old, is 6-foot-4 with a 225 pound build and an impressive 14.2 career WAR. Hosmer landed the biggest guaranteed payout of the MLB offseason when he agreed to an eight-year, $144 million deal with San Diego. The contract includes a $5 million signing bonus and an opt-out clause after 2022.

2018 to 2022 San Diego Padres: $20 million a year.

2023 to 2026 San Diego Padres: $13 million a year.

While Hosmer put up solid stats across the board in 2017, he had his worst hard-hit rate since 2011 with a 29.5 percent mark, a drop of 4.9 percent from 2016. Hosmer hits a lot of ground balls, so expecting an increase in home runs is not realistic. The positive with Hosmer is durability, which allows him to get good counting stats and a high floor for average, a category that can go undervalued. Hosmer has appeared in 1,048 games and surpassed the 158-game mark in four of his seven seasons.

Hosmer is not exactly a Statcast king defensively. Last year, he ranked 85th in average exit velocity on line drives and fly balls (94.1 mph) and tied for 46th in overall exit velocity (89.6 mph), but still won the 2017 American League Gold Glove. Hosmer has been a high-end offensive producer who makes an above-average amount of contact, a skill that’s all the more valuable in today’s strikeout-heavy games.

Hosmer said he is ready to embrace a leadership role for the Padres, who haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006 or logged a winning record since 2010, and have lost the only two World Series appearances since their inception in 1969. He hopes to convey some of the winning mindset that he developed as a pivotal member of Kansas City’s 2015 championship club.
“Every player’s goal is to ultimately win a world championship,” Hosmer said. “To be able do that in Kansas City was amazing. To have that taste and understand what it means to a city and how much joy and excitement it brings to the people out there, it’s an experience I can sit here and talk about all day. It’s something that drives you as a player — to try to bring back as many as you can.
“You see how San Diego as a city is begging for a sports team to go in there and bring some excitement and some energy. I saw the direction the organization was going, and I saw the people at the top of the mountain who were leading the organization, and I bought into what they’re trying to do here.” Source: ESPN – Jerry Crasnick

“He’s as athletic as anybody in Major League Baseball,” Green said. “You don’t hit 30 home runs and steal 20-plus bases if you’re not. He can fly. … He’s got plenty enough speed to play literally anywhere on the baseball field. I don’t think anything’s going to be a real challenge for him that way.” Source: MLB.com

As a leader, Eric Hosmer must:

1) Trust his team. Padres have scouting reports. Hosmer will be paying attention to the information gathered, the history revealed, the competitive intelligence right at his fingertips. Gain the trust by asking others for their opinions and input.

2) Trust his instincts. Don’t second guess yourself. Instead, push yourself to seize opportunities. When you need to have an impact, do the unexpected. If you are always analyzing instead of acting, you may find yourself stranded on base at the end of every game.

3) Commit. Once Hosmer makes a move, he must give it his all. If only partially committed, they’ll only be partially successful. If experiencing doubt, keep running to the plate. Making a full-on effort is always better than bailing out too soon.

4) Stay in the moment. Be alert and opportunistic. Can’t ever go on autopilot and expect someone else to signal you when the moment is now or never. Hosmer made this decision on his own without a coach’s input or permission. He was only able to do this because he recognized the unique possibility in that split second when the ball was thrown to first.

5) Play fearlessly. Royals manager Ned Yost was quoted as saying “We just want our players to play fearlessly. You cannot be the best if you are afraid.” Hosmer was at his very best. He led the team because he showed no fear. By tying the game, he put the game into extra innings. His confidence was contagious, infusing the Royals’ dugout with hope and determination. Fearful leaders inspire no one. Source: peoplefirstps.com

2018 Stats

DATE	OPP	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
03/29/2018	MIL	4	0	0	0	1	2	.000
03/30/2018	MIL	4	0	2	1	1	0	.250
03/31/2018	MIL	4	0	2	1	0	1	.333
04/02/2018	COL	4	1	2	0	1	0	.375

Eric Hosmer Hitting Stats

YEAR	TEAM	LG	LEVEL	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GO/AO
2008	IDF	PIO	ROK	3	11	2	4	6	2	0	0	2	3	0	2	0	0	.364	.533	.545	1.079	1.50
2009	BUR	MID	A(Full)	79	280	31	71	107	17	2	5	49	44	3	68	3	2	.254	.352	.382	.734	2.58
2009	WIL	CAR	A(Adv)	27	97	9	20	29	2	2	1	10	9	0	22	0	0	.206	.280	.299	.579	3.67
2009	2 teams		Minors	106	377	40	91	136	19	4	6	59	53	3	90	3	2	.241	.334	.361	.695	2.82
2010	WIL	CAR	A(Adv)	87	325	48	115	177	29	6	7	51	44	6	39	11	1	.354	.429	.545	.974	1.88
2010	NWA	TEX	AA	50	195	39	61	120	14	3	13	35	15	2	27	3	1	.313	.365	.615	.980	1.51
2010	2 teams	–	Minors	137	520	87	176	297	43	9	20	86	59	8	66	14	2	.338	.406	.571	.977	1.72
2011	OMA	PCL	AAA	26	98	21	43	57	5	0	3	15	19	0	16	3	0	.439	.525	.582	1.107	1.28
2011	KC	AL	MLB	128	523	66	153	243	27	3	19	78	34	7	82	11	5	.293	.334	.465	.799	1.43
2012	KC	AL	MLB	152	535	65	124	192	22	2	14	60	56	4	95	16	1	.232	.304	.359	.663	1.55
2013	KC	AL	MLB	159	623	86	188	279	34	3	17	79	51	4	100	11	4	.302	.353	.448	.801	1.59
2014	OMA	PCL	AAA	2	10	2	3	6	0	0	1	3	1	0	3	0	0	.300	.364	.600	.964	3.00
2014	KC	AL	MLB	131	503	54	136	200	35	1	9	58	35	4	93	4	2	.270	.318	.398	.716	1.35
2015	KC	AL	MLB	158	599	98	178	275	33	5	18	93	61	6	108	7	3	.297	.363	.459	.822	1.73
2016	KC	AL	MLB	158	605	80	161	262	24	1	25	104	57	5	132	5	3	.266	.328	.433	.761	2.18
2017	KC	AL	MLB	162	603	98	192	300	31	1	25	94	66	3	104	6	1	.318	.385	.498	.882	2.19
2018	SD	NL	MLB	3	12	0	4	6	2	0	0	2	2	0	3	0	0	.333	.429	.500	.929
Minors Career	5 teams		Minors	274	1016	152	317	502	69	13	30	165	135	11	177	20	4	.312	.393	.494	.887	2.01
MLB Career			MLB	1051	4003	547	1136	1757	208	16	127	568	362	33	717	60	19	.284	.343	.439	.781	1.70

Eric Hosmer Career Fielding Stats

YEAR	TEAM	LG	LEVEL	POS	G	GS	INN	TC	PO	A	E	DP	RF	FPCT
2008	IDF	PIO	ROK	1B	1	1	9.0	10	10	0	0	0	10.00	1.000
2009	WIL	CAR	A(Adv)	1B	25	25	219.0	229	211	17	1	20	9.12	.996
2009	BUR	MID	A(Full)	1B	60	60	492.2	490	445	41	4	46	8.10	.992
2009	2 teams		Minors	1B	85	85	711.2	719	656	58	5	66	8.40	.993
2010	NWA	TEX	AA	1B	43	42	359.1	360	331	27	2	43	8.33	.994
2010	WIL	CAR	A(Adv)	1B	80	80	695.1	672	619	45	8	58	8.30	.988
2010	2 teams		Minors	1B	123	122	1054.2	1032	950	72	10	101	8.31	.990
2011	KC	AL	MLB	1B	127	127	1135.2	1182	1096	78	8	101	9.24	.993
2011	OMA	PCL	AAA	1B	23	22	196.2	209	187	19	3	23	8.96	.986
2012	KC	AL	MLB	1B	148	142	1277.0	1295	1183	103	9	132	8.69	.993
2012	KC	AL	MLB	RF	3	2	16.0	3	1	1	1	0	0.67	.667
2012	KC	AL	MLB	OF	3	2	16.0	3	1	1	1	0	0.67	.667
2013	KC	AL	MLB	OF	1	1	6.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
2013	KC	AL	MLB	1B	158	153	1372.1	1335	1205	122	8	118	8.40	.994
2013	KC	AL	MLB	RF	1	1	6.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
2014	OMA	PCL	AAA	1B	2	2	18.0	23	19	4	0	2	11.50	1.000
2014	KC	AL	MLB	1B	130	126	1121.2	1141	1043	88	10	85	8.70	.991
2015	KC	AL	MLB	1B	154	152	1354.2	1366	1261	101	4	121	8.84	.997
2015	KC	AL	MLB	RF	1	0	3.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
2015	KC	AL	MLB	OF	1	0	3.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
2016	KC	AL	MLB	1B	154	154	1351.0	1320	1240	74	6	118	8.53	.995
2017	KC	AL	MLB	1B	157	155	1338.0	1314	1235	75	4	124	8.34	.997
2018	SD	NL	MLB	1B	3	3	30.0	34	31	3	0	4	11.33	1.000
Minors Career	5 teams		Minors	1B	234	232	1990.0	1993	1822	153	18	192	8.44	.991
MLB Career			MLB	OF	5	3	25.0	3	1	1	1	0	0.40	.667
MLB Career			MLB	RF	5	3	25.0	3	1	1	1	0	0.40	.667
MLB Career			MLB	1B	1031	1012	8980.1	8987	8294	644	49	803	8.67	.995

Eric Hosmer 2018 Projections

Duration	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Rest of Season	142	544	73	154	255	29	1	23	81	60	3	110	4	2	.283	.354	.467	.821
Cumulative	145	556	73	158	261	31	1	23	83	62	3	113	4	2	.284	.356	.468	.823

Off the field, Hosmer has been very active in the Kansas City community, including with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Greater Kansas City Firefighter Local 42 Community Assistance organization. He’s a two-time nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given yearly to the major leaguer who best combines community involvement with sportsmanship and contributions to his team. Source: mlbtraderumors

Eric Hosmer is a statistical madman on a mission in San Diego for the Commissioner’s Trophy. Anything less would be considered an organization fail.

Jeff Weber

Hello, my name is Jeff Weber. I am a life long San Diego Padres Fan and a 27 year San Diegan. Stay up to date with Padres trade rumors, breaking news, prospects, injuries and in-depth reports on players here at EVT.

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