Royals Need Eric Hosmer to Lead the Way

Recently, I wrote about the historical futility for the Kansas City Royals during May. The emerald month has not been kind to our boys in blue. In particular, late May has proven troublesome, with the team going 17-48 from May 24 through May 31 over the past nine years.

2015 was a notable exception with the team posting a 14-12 record. However, that late month bugaboo still reared its usual ugly head as the Royals finished 1-5 mark over those dreaded 8 days.

Why? What sort of cosmic Gemini-onset witchery has afflicted our organization? There must be some reason. Again, I have no definitive answer. Baseball doesn’t really work like that. However, a large piece of the puzzle this particular year lies in the fluorescent taped bat of Eric Hosmer. As the numbers show, he was a significant player in both why we had only our 2nd winning May in the Moore regime AND the usual awful end to the month.

The pride of Cooper City, Florida entered May at .310/.404/.488 with 3 HR and 15 RBI. That’s a damn fine month, especially for April. From May 1 through May 15, he played like the superstar that he was (probably unfairly) projected to be. Over fourteen games, he hit .368 with a .474 OBP, 4 HR and 14 RBIs. He struck out just 9 times, compared to 6 walks (a 1.5 K/BB ratio).

Most importantly, the Royals went 8-6 over that stretch. As the offense as a whole cooled down at a rapid rate and the pitching continued to struggle (serving up 4.14 runs per game), Hosmer put the team on his back and carried them. With his bat at the forefront, the offense averaged 4.7 runs per game over this stretch.

May 16th brought with it an interesting line of demarcation. Over the next 12 contests, Hosmer’s patience at the plate eroded as he went ice, ice cold. He hit .195 with a .219 OBP. He lost control of his selective eye, striking out 11 times versus only 1 walk (an easily computed 11 K/BB ratio). All eight of his hits stayed in the yard and netted only 2 RBI. With its mohawked leader mired in a free swinging funk, the offense averaged only 3.25 runs per game.

Now, let’s not get over dramatic here. Players get hot, players get cold. Over this stretch, the team still went 6-6. This proves that Hosmer is far from the only factor at play in explaining May. It could have something to do with the pitching having a good stretch, giving up 2 ER or less in half of those games (including 3 shut outs). Including Guthrie’s historically bad day at Yankee stadium, they still allowed a reduced 3.58 runs per game, more than .5 less than the first half of the month.

Still, even with the improvement in pitching, the team had a worse record the second half of the month, especially the last week. The runs per game decrease coinciding so directly with Hosmer’s personal struggles at the plate hint that his bat carries a large weight in our lineup. Simply put, he is arguably the most important piece of the offense and when he struggles, the whole offense suffers proportionally.

June has begun. We enter the part of the season where teams start to separate themselves one way or the other, a time when trends tend to balance out and we are left with the first honest evaluations of the season. On June 2nd, the Royals lost 2-1 to the Tribe. Hosmer went 1-4 with 2 Ks. Here’s hoping he turns it around soon.

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